News from around the 32 counties of Ireland

What's going on in your home county in Ireland

A property developer, found in a very disheveled and malnourished state on a road near Ballinamore on Tuesday night, had a serious injury to his forehead.

The Leitrim Observer, which broke the story last Wednesday of the discovery of Kevin Michael McGeever, has since learned that he was dropped off from a van some time shortly before 10 p.m. on January 29.

Mr. McGeever went missing from Gort, County Galway in June 2012. He is originally a native of Co. Mayo and had been involved in a property development company dealing primarily with properties in Dubai, prior to his disappearance.

When discovered by a couple returning to the Ballinamore area on Tuesday evening, Mr. McGeever was wearing socks and had a plastic bag covering his clothes. He had no money on him but had a mobile phone and a torch in his possession.
[Source: Leitrim Observer]

LIMERICK

Japan’s Jiroemon Kimura may have become the world’s oldest man two weeks ago aged 115 years, but buried beneath County Limerick soil is a 219-year-old John Murphy.

The tombstone of the mystery man – who is surely a candidate for the Guinness Book of Records – has been discovered in the cemetery at St. John’s Church in Knockainey by a local historian.

Michael Quinlan was researching his new book on the church when he came upon the unusual inscription.

“When anybody sees it – they are quite amazed,” said Michael. “The fact is, it is written in stone. It is dating from 1784,” he explained of the gravestone.
[Source: Limerick Leader]

LONGFORD

Health and Safety investigators are trying to establish what may have caused a 40-foot high wall to collapse at a well-known D.I.Y. and garden center in Longford town last Tuesday, killing two men and injuring four others.

Sean Mulleady (47), from Drumlish, and Tarmonbarry father-of-two Pat Gaffney, who was in his 60s, lost their lives when an internal wall gave way, trapping them and four others.

Two of those left injured have since been discharged from hospital, with two more still being cared for at the Midlands Regional Hospital in Tullamore.
[Source: Longford Leader]

LOUTH

The town of Dundalk came to a standstill for the funeral of Detective Garda (Police Officer) Adrian Donohoe last Wednesday.

Uachtaráin na hÉireann (President of Ireland), Michael D. Higgins and his wife were invited by Very Rev. Michael Cusack to express the condolence and sympathy of the people of the nation at the end of the funeral.

Nearly 2,000 people filled the church and the adjoining monastery rooms for the requiem mass during which Fr. Cusack said, “This is a good time for serious reflection on the need for expanding, and not cutting back, on policing in our country.”
[Source: Dundalk Democrat]

MAYO

The Swinford and Midfield communities were plunged into sadness and grief two weekends ago with the death of young woman Tara Ryan in a road traffic accident on Friday afternoon, January 25. This was the third major tragedy to hit the Swinford region in the past four years. The death of Garda (Police Officer) Robert McCallion (29) in the course of duty in Letterkenny in May 2009 stunned the Swinford and wider community. Last year, Gary Price, a prominent and accomplished sportsman, died in a drowning accident in Laos at the age of 23.

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Nster.com