48 CHILDREN WHO NEVER CAME HOME
ON Valentine’s Night in 1981, 48 young people went out dancing at the Stardust nightclub and never came home. Fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters were killed in a fire that spawned generations of trauma for families and survivors. Today, we remember all of them.
JAMES BUCKLEY 23, Donnycarney, Dublin
The inquest heard that everyone who met and knew ‘Jimmy’ Buckley loved him. He was described as ‘funny and witty and the life and soul of every party. Everyone loved his company’. He was a husband to Christina Smyth and father to Julie-ann.
PAULA BYRNE 19, Coolock, Dublin
Paula was the middle child out of seven siblings. Her sister Maria described her as ‘the peacemaker’ in their home. ‘Going to bed on an argument was not in her nature,’ she said. Her hobbies included dancing and music, along with fashion.
MICHAEL BARRETT 17, Raheny, Dublin
While an apprentice plumber by trade Michael was working as an assistant DJ on the night of the fire. He was the eldest of four children. He had one sister and two brothers.
RICHARD BENNETT 17, Coolock, Dublin
Richard was the eldest of four children with a fifth sibling on the way at the time of the tragedy. The young man had left school at 15 to go out to work and provide for his mother and brothers and sister.
CAROL BISSETT 18, Ringsend, Dublin
Carol was described by her mother Elizabeth as ‘quiet, in her ways’. However, she was a valued member of her school band, the choir and the girl guides. She came from a large family and was the second eldest of four siblings.
JOHN COLGAN 21, Swords, Dublin
John’s favourite song was Lovely Day by Bill Withers which his sister Susan believes summed up his outlook on life. ‘He was always upbeat, always looking forward to each day,’ she said. He is said to have helped his best friend Kenny to safety on the night of the fire, but went back inside the premises because he could hear girls crying in the toilets.
JACQUELINE CROKER 19, Kilmore West, Dublin
Music lover ‘Jackie’ would buy the Top of the Pops LP from Golden Discs with her wages as a treat for her two siblings. She was engaged to her fiancé John at the time and was also on the darts team for Chivers jam factory.
CAROLINE CAREY 17, Coolock, Dublin
Caroline was a member of the parish junior choir which she attended regularly. After completing her Inter Cert, she went on to complete a secretarial course and later secured a job as a clerical officer for Dublin Corporation.
LIAM DUNNE 18, Coolock, Dublin
Liam was the third eldest in his family and was training as a butcher at the time of his death. On Saturday morning after the fire his sister Siobhán found him in the Mater hospital alive but seriously injured. Less than a month later Liam passed away surrounded by his family.
MICHAEL FARRELL 26, from Coolock, Dublin
Michael started his first job at the age of 14 as a helper in Allied Bottlers, and started a job at Cadbury’s before he died.
Michael was going out with Thelma Frazer who was also killed in the Stardust fire.
THELMA FRAZER 20, Sandymount, Dublin
Thelma tragically died alongside her boyfriend Michael Farrell on the night of the fire. She is said to have excelled in her studies in business and communications at Ballsbridge Business College and also loved sport, music and dancing.
DAVID FLOOD 18, Beaumont, Dublin
Described as ‘good-humoured and sociable’, David loved dancing, going to the disco and rocking out to the Rolling Stones. He was working in O’Neills Shoes on Talbot Street up until the time he was killed in the blaze.
MICHAEL FFRENCH 19, Coolock, Dublin
Described by his brother as a ‘legend, a big brother and our rock’, Michael was known as being very generous with the wages he earned as an auto engineer. Michael’s family had to wait 25 years before it was officially confirmed through DNA that he died in the fire.
JOSEPHINE GLEN 16, Coolock, Dublin
Leaving school at 14 to work, ‘Jo’ contributed most of her wages to her mother and three siblings. She was rushed to hospital and treated for smoke inhalatio, but despite the best efforts of her doctors, Jo’s life support machine was switched off several days later.
MICHAEL GRIFFITHS 17, Kilmore, Dublin
The eldest of five siblings, Michael was described as being a big fan of music, Elvis and Tottenham Hotspur. ‘He loved family occasions like birthdays, and when younger would always be first to drag us out of bed on Christmas morning to get the day started’ his brother Paul said.
ROBERT HILLICK
20, Twinbrook, Belfast Beginning work as a paper boy at the young age of 13, Bobby was passionate about football and boxing. He had left his hometown of Belfast to work on a building site in Dublin before he died in the fire.
BRIAN HOBBS 21, Whitehall, Dublin
The youngest of seven children, Brian studied catering while working at the Rockwell Hotel in Co. Tipperary. The talented young man worked in Sweden for a year before securing employment in the Sachs Hotel in Dublin.
EUGENE HOGAN 24, Artane, Dublin
Despite his young age, Eugene was married and had two children and was due to move to Co. Kerry just one day after the Stardust disco. Being one of nine children, his family said he always hated the name Eugene and changed it to Hughie.
MURTAGH KAVANAGH 27, Coolock, Dublin
Known as ‘Murty’ by his friends, Murtagh’s family had assumed he was spending the night at a friend’s house on the fateful evening. He remained an unidentified victim, which meant his family were denied a private funeral. They finally got some closure when he was formally identified 25 years later through DNA.
MARTINA KEEGAN 16, Coolock, Dublin
Martina, her sister Mary and their friend Mary Kenny and boyfriend David Morton were all killed in the fire. The teenager was described as a real-life Marilyn Monroe lookalike. Her other sister Lorraine said everyone assumed she would become a model.
MARY KEEGAN 19, Coolock, Dublin
The eldest of five siblings, Mary was known as a ‘best friend to us all and would keep our secrets of mischief’. After completing her Leaving Cert in 1979, she secured a job as a receptionist at RTV Rentals, at the Northside Shopping Centre in Coolock.
ROBERT KELLY 17, Raheny, Dublin
Robert was a big music fan who was
particularly passionate about the Bay City Rollers, the Sex Pistols and Blondie. Robert worked on ships with his brother and was due to be working the week of the fire. However, the ship went into dry dock, which allowed him to visit Stardust on the night of the fire.
MARIE KENNEDY 17, Kilbarrack, Dublin
To this day, Marie’s family honour the tradition of putting up their Christmas decorations on her birthday which fell a week before the annual holiday. Her passions included music, Irish dancing and going to discos. In addition, Marie loved fashion and worked at tailoring while attending secretarial college.
MARY KENNY 19, Coolock, Dublin
Mary found her first job as a receptionist in Briggs & McCrae in Dublin after finishing school at Coláiste Dulaigh in Coolock. Her sister Angela recalled: ‘Mary didn’t drink or smoke; her passions in life were dancing and fashion and she would look forward to going to the Stardust nightclub on a Friday night just to dance all night with her friends.’
MARGARET KIERNAN 19, Coolock, Dublin
A fan of sports including soccer, hockey, basketball, excelling in all three, as well as of discos and trips out. Her older brother James said Margaret had a wide circle of friends and had recently started working a job in Butterly Park.
SANDRA LAWLESS 18, Coolock, Dublin
A Girl Guide leader and swimmer who won awards for life saving. She loved the outdoors, hiking and camping, but was also very meticulous and neat. At the time of the Stardust fire, Sandra worked in Gilt Edge making ties with her older sister Valerie and her Aunt Lily.
FRANCIS LAWLOR 25, Finglas, Dublin
Francis and his wife Maureen had gone out for a few drinks to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Their deaths meant that their baby daughter Lisa Lawlor was orphaned. Francis, the eldest of 12 children, was a bright child who loved motorbikes and cars more than academia. He joined the Army at age 21 and was a natural marksman.
MAUREEN LAWLOR 23, Finglas, Dublin
Francis’s wife Maureen grew up in Cabra, one of seven siblings. She was knocked down by a car at age 15, and was pretty and fashionable but shy. She married Francis at the age of 17, and was thrilled to become a mother, her daughter Lisa said, rarely going out because she did not like leaving her child.
PAULA LEWIS 19, from Coolock, Dublin
Music fan Paula was described by her brother John as ‘a good girl, a kind girl. The type of girl that handed up her wages to Mum if Mum was stuck’. She loved reading Mills & Boon novels and was excitedly planning a holiday to Malaga. Her friend Sandra Lawless also died in the blaze.
EAMONN LOUGHMAN 19, Beaumont, Dublin
The oldest of four children, two of his siblings died before him in a cot death and a sudden collapse. Despite his devastation, he remained a loving brother, who also enjoyed music and was the proud co-owner of a Ford Cortina, which he used to pick his little sister Elaine up from school.
GEORGE MCDERMOTT 18, Raheny, Dublin
One of three siblings to die at Stardust, ‘Georgie’ was the good looking joker of the family, with a cheeky grin, who loved dancing around the house and hated falling out with people. He was a Tottenham Hotspur fanatic, who loved a game of cards in the Cock Tavern in Howth.
MARCELLA MCDERMOTT 16, Raheny, Dublin
Happy, singing and dancing were the words her mother used to describe Marcella, the sixth of eight children. A tall girl with jet black hair and an infectious smile, she had a gentle and kind nature, especially around children.
WILLIAM MCDERMOTT 22, Raheny, Dublin
A tall, strong lad who protected his siblings, Willie was witty, fun, caring and kind and a gentle giant, who loved going for a beer and a game of pool at the weekend. He had a job he loved at Fitzgerald’s truck company in Raheny and was learning to drive – his licence arrived a few days after his death.
JULIE MCDONNELL 20, Coolock, Dublin
Fun, loving, happy, smiling, helpful, caring and thoughtful, Julie was a hard worker and helped provide for the family as a breadwinner. An Elvis Presley fan and footballmad, she coached a local team when she was not working in Portion Foods. She went back inside the nightclub to search for her sister, Paula.
TERESA MCDONNELL 16, Coolock, Dublin
Teresa was an animal lover who held her family together with love, fun and happiness. She attended St Mary’s Secondary School in Killester but although bright, preferred the social aspect to the academic, and wanted to be a hairdresser or a beautician. Her last words were to tell her sister, Lorraine, to ‘get out, there’s a fire’.
GERARD MCGRATH 21, Coolock, Dublin
An independent young man with a unique passion for wildlife and an encyclopaedic knowledge of garden birds, who went on to become an apprentice cabinet maker. He had saved up for his own car and Honda 50, loved fashion and clothes, and had a cherished collection of records, including Mud, Sweet, Gilbert O’Sullivan, the Bay City Rollers and a selection of Irish ballads.
CAROLINE MCHUGH 17, Artane, Dublin
An only child, she was educated at Loreto College on St Stephen’s Green. She was an avid reader, a fan of Enid Blyton books and romantic novels. She sang in the college choir, was an Irish dancer and loved swimming.
DONNA MAHON 17, Raheny, Dublin
Working as a supervisor at Derek Durken’s newsagent, Donna, who had eight siblings, had plans to go to Santa Ponsa to celebrate her 18th birthday. She was described as the apple of her parent’s eye, and a great friend.
HELENA MANGAN 22, from Coolock, Dublin
One of six children, and the second eldest, she had a four-yearold daughter, Samantha, when she died. She was just 4’10” tall, with a beautiful figure, brown hair and blue eyes, and she loved Rod Stewart, Seventies music and dancing.
JAMES MILLAR 21, Twinbrook, Belfast
Jim had left the North amid the Troubles and travelled the world with the Merchant Navy. He was engaged to be married and had settled in Artane with a job and plans to raise his family.
SUSAN MORGAN 19, Derry
One of a group of girls who moved from Derry to Dublin to live and work in the Nazareth House care home on the Malahide Road. A tomboy who loved football, Susan was full of life, funny and bubbly, who enjoyed practical jokes but would also buy her friends thoughtful gifts, and felt that Dublin represented freedom and possibility.
DAVID MORTON 19, Artane, Dublin
Nicknamed ‘Chesty’, because he didn’t like to muddy his mane of dark hair with a header when playing football, he attended St David’s CBS but was keen to leave school and get a job, to fund his interest in clothes, music and girls. Outgoing and charismatic, he got on a management training course with Superquinn and dreamed of spending his earnings on a sun holiday in Spain with friends.
KATHLEEN MULDOON 19, Kells, Co Meath
The eldest of 10 children, Kathleen was a mature young girl who helped her family with their chores and homework, while studying herself. She always wanted to go into nursing, loved football, music – particularly the Eagles - and nights out.
GEORGE O’CONNOR 17, Coolock, Dublin
A quiet and reserved homebody, who did not go out much, he was a huge sciencefiction fan and was always drawing, trying to replicate the spaceships from the comics and films of Star Wars, Star Trek and War of the Worlds. He took his Leaving Cert in St Joseph’s CBS in Fairview and went on to work in the local Superquinn.
BRENDAN O’MEARA 23, Coolock, Dublin
Described as an ‘international standard’ Irish dancer, Brendan was also on darts and football teams with his brothers. He was described as a ‘good, honest and decent fella’, who was working as a delivery driver at the time of his death, having previously been in the army.
JOHN STOUT 18, Coolock, Dublin
John was the third child in a large family which had 11 surviving children, he was quiet, sensitive and gentle. He disliked conflict but enjoyed watching showjumping and loved Elvis. He had plans to be a painter-decorator, and went to the Stardust with his girlfriend, Helena Mangan, who was also killed in the fire.
MARGARET THORNTON 19, Dublin 8
Margaret was the baby of the family, whose father was killed by a hit-andrun driver when she was just two years old. She loved music and concerts as well as fashion, studying at the Parnell Institute of Tailoring and Textiles before working in various sewing factories.
PAUL WADE 17, Artane, Dublin
An outgoing teenager who made friends easily, he was one of five boys and a twin to Liam. Funny and outgoing, a people person who was good at talking to girls, he went to the Stardust on a double date. Paul was among seven victims whose bodies were unidentified.