VILLAGE IN SHOCK OVER LOSS OF KIND, SPORTS-MAD BOYS
LIKE most villages across the country, Ballinkillen revolves around the GAA pitch – especially in the summer season.
But last night, the blue and yellow flag at the entrance to Ballinkillen Hurling Club flew at half mast. As word quickly spread around the Co. Carlow village that Ruairi and Eoghan Chada had been found dead, locals gathered on the street in shock.
With ashen faces and hushed tones, they stood in the evening sun as less than a mile away, the boys’ mother, Kathleen, was comforted by friends and relations.
Members of the club which the boys played with on the Under-6 and Under-10 teams also took down the bunting around the pitch as a mark of respect yesterday.
Mr Chada was very involved in the local hurling club. He is a member of the club’s committee and also trained his youngest son’s team. Fellow committee member Tom Dowling was among the group who gathered at the GAA pitch yesterday.
He said the entire community was shocked by the tragedy. ‘It’s not easy to talk about,’ he said. ‘People are not able to talk about it.’ He said word began to spread early yesterday morning that the
‘It was horrifying when Kathleen was told’
boys and their father were missing. ‘I just heard that they were missing this morning,’ he said last night. ‘The place is now in complete shock, it’s a very small area.’
Mr Dowling said Mr Chada was ‘a very important part of the club’, having trained some of the youngest members. He said the two boys were ‘very talented at hurling’ and were ‘sports-mad’. Wife Kathleen grew up in the village, nestled in the rolling hills a short distance from Bagenalstown. Her parents still live in the house she grew up in opposite the church, shop and community centre.
Kathleen, who works as a nurse, built a two-storey house with her husband just outside the village.
Neighbours, friends and relations streamed into the home to support Kathleen in her grief.
Gardaí stood outside the house and a temporary sign with red spray-painted letters directed cars into a nearby field. Parish priest Fr Declan Foley said yesterday: ‘I’d often be in the school and I knew many of the kids.
‘I knew Eoghan and Ruairi because their grandmother, Patsy, is the sacristan at my church. Their friends are extremely shocked as the news is reaching them.
‘William is their grandfather, they are local farmers. Sanjeev worked at home in the computer line so he would have been there all the time. It is extremely tragic and traumatic for the whole community because in a small area everyone is aware of the children. The school only has just over 100 pupils.’
Another local man said the boys’ grandmother Patsy Murphy was also involved in the hurling club and would always cheer them on when they played. ‘They were a local family, the boys were always on the pitch like any young lads,’ he said. ‘Their granny used to play camogie when she was young. She
used be out watching them when they were playing.’
Both boys attended the local Ballinkillen National School.
Ruairi was due to return to senior infants in September, while Eoghan was set to enter fourth class.
Principal Michelle Doorley, who also taught Ruairi this year, remembers the brothers as spirited and kind children.
She said: ‘Ruairi was just a bright, clever, beautiful little boy.
‘He had the most beautiful smile. They were very popular children, bright, lively, kind children. They were sporty little chaps but had wide interests. They were an absolute credit to their family. This is such a tragedy for everybody.’
A neighbour of the family was clearly shaken. He said: ‘I can’t even speak. It’s just too horrific to put into words that the boys are gone. That we’ll never see them again.’
The hurling club that the boys attended declined to comment, saying it was ‘too soon’.