Strong local links to US student tragedy

SAD LOSS The late Eimear Walsh’s mother Patricia is originally from Westport.

Strong local links to US student tragedy


Neill O'Neill

WITH the remains of the Irish students killed in the tragic balcony collapse in Berkeley, California, last week now home, and their families preparing themselves for funeral services due to take place today (Tuesday) and later this week, local relatives of one of those who remains in hospital following the accident have said that she remains on the critical list.
Aoife Beary, whose twenty-first birthday was being enjoyed by a group of J1 students from Ireland in the university city of Berkeley when tragedy struck last Tuesday morning, is a niece of James O’Doherty from Carrabawn, Westport. Her parents have travelled to California to be with their daughter, and Aoife is one of two, of the 13 students to be directly involved in the collapse of a fourth floor balcony, who is on a critical list. Seven people were injured in the accident while six lost their lives, in a tragedy that has stunned the nation and captured attention around the world.
Eimear Walsh, one of six fatalities in the balcony collapse will be buried today in south County Dublin. Eimear’s mother is Patricia Walsh (McLoughlin), originally from McNeela Terrace at the Quay area of Westport Town. Eimear has a large number of close family members living in the town, namely her aunt, two uncles and her many cousins and their families. The McLoughlins are one of Westport’s well known local families, particularly in sporting circles, through a life long successful affiliation with Westport United.
James O’Doherty and his wife Patricia are well-known proprietors of the Creel Coffee House and Restaurant at Westport Harbour and James has many other business associations in the town and county.

Circumstances
It has been widely reported that a number of Irish students, in the USA on J1 summer student visas, had gathered to celebrate the twenty-first birthday of Aoife Beary, who was living in the fourth floor apartment of the Library Gardens complex on Kittredge Street in Berkeley with Eimear Walsh and Olivia Burke. The three had been friends for many years. Olivia, who was from south Dublin, died in the tragedy along with Eimear. The deaths of three other Irish people (five in total) were also confirmed, along with Aoife Beary’s Irish-American cousin, Ashley Donohoe, who had joined the group for the celebration. The other Irish victims were named as Lorcan Miller, Eoghan Culligan and Niccolai Schuster. They were all friends from south Dublin.
Four of the students were confirmed dead at the scene while two more died later of their injuries in hospital. A further seven students were taken to hospital where their injuries have been described as both life threatening and life changing. The accident prompted a huge outpouring of grief countrywide and has captured the attention and prayers of the nation.
There are an estimated 700 young Irish people in the San Francisco Bay area on summer J1 visas, with dozens of them hailing from right across Mayo. When news of the tragedy broke in Ireland shortly before lunch time last Tuesday, there were many frantic parents and friends in Mayo attempting to make contact with their loved ones. Many other students from Mayo are residing in the popular city of Berkeley for the summer, while students from right across the county are also known to be in the wider Bay area of San Francisco City, which is just 14 miles from Berkeley.
Books of condolence were opened in towns across Mayo last week.
A minute’s silence was observed at several Mayo County Council hosted events in the last week, such as area meetings and civic receptions, along with all fixtures in the Mayo League and Mayo GAA Club Championship last weekend.