A TEENAGE boy who died in a fatal fall while on holidays with his parents in Kerry has been named.
Darragh Byrne, 16, from Charleville, Co Cork, was killed instantly yesterday when he fell at a lake close to Daingean Ui Chuis in the west Kerry Gaeltacht of Corca Dhuibhne near the Conor Pass.
The 16-year-old was a student in the Christian Brothers Secondary School in Charleville.
Darragh had travelled to Kerry on holidays with his parents, James and Siobhan, and is believed to have been an only child.
He went exploring an area with a waterfall close to Pedlars Lake at Conor Pass, near Dingle.
When he failed to return, his parents raised the alarm at around 3pm.
Emergency services, including 30 members of Dingle Coast Guard and the Kerry Mountain Action Team, immediately responded along with the Coast Guard Rescue Helicopter 115, ambulance service and Gardai.
The boy was found close to the bottom of the waterfall and it is believed he may have climbed up to the lake, slipped and plunged to his death.
He was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was taken to University Hospital Kerry for a post-mortem examination.
Gerry Christie of Kerry Mountain Rescue Team, told Radio Kerry: “I’m speaking with a heavy heart today but how heavy are the hearts of his parents. He was well on the way to being a man – a man sadly he now will never be.
“One can only assume that somehow he slipped on a beautiful afternoon in Kerry. It puts it into context how precious life can be.
“I did speak briefly to his parents when I came down but I need to extend my condolences and that of all of Kerry Mountain Rescue Team, and indeed all of Kerry. It’s so sad..
Charleville-based Fianna Fail Councillor Ian Doyle said the local community is in shock.
‘TOTAL SHOCK’
He said “This is a total shock and a terrible tragedy. The family is deep rooted in Charleville and Darragh’s parents are very active with the local GAA and community affairs in general.
“They are very well liked and respected and everyone feels so sad for them on the loss of their only child.”
This is the second high-profile tragedy to hit the family as Darragh’s grandmother, Mary Feehily, died last November when she was struck by a car as she stood on a footpath after stopping to buy a GAA lottery ticket in the centre of Charleville.
Mary, who was in her 70s, was very well known locally and was the mother-in-law of Fianna Fail TD for Clare Cathal Crowe.
