TRIBUTE HAVE BEEN paid to a young teenager who died after he was struck in the head by a sliotar at his school in Kilkenny.
Harry Byrne, 13, from Gowran, Co Kilkenny passed away yesterday after the lunchtime accident at St Kieran’s College.
Emergency services rushed the boy to St Luke’s General Hospital but he was pronounced dead on Tuesday.
In a statement released to media, the school said it deeply regrets what happened.
“The accident occurred while the students were playing normally. This is a terrible tragedy for his family, friends, parish and all in our school community. You will understand the need for privacy at this time,” it said.
“Prayers and offers of support have been pouring in and are greatly appreciated.”
The statement added that psychologists from the National Educational Psychological Service are now attending the school to offer support and advice.
Harry was a first-year student at the school, which is regarded as a hurling nursery in the county, and also played with Young Irelands GAA club.
The vice-chair of the club, Ciaran Phelan, said he was “the loveliest chap you could meet”, adding: “He probably grew a foot in the last year-and-a-half since Covid.”
“His enthusiasm, his smile, his manners, everything about Harry stood out. He was a credit to his family, a credit to his club.”
The aspiring young hurler was starting to make “real progress” at the game, Phelan told Claire Byrne on RTÉ Radio One.
“His team has had a bit of success in the last two years, winning two U13 county championships which is big for a country club like Gowran in Kilkenny.
“Harry was an important member of the team, he was flying it, he was recently called in for trials with the [county] development squads…Harry was really starting to do well.”
The call-up to the trial in particular was a “tremendous honour” for the boy and his family.
Denis Hynes, a local councillor in the area, told The Journal that he knew Harry from the Bridge United soccer club in Goresbridge, and described him as “a lovely kid” whose death had caused “enormous devastation” in the community.
“Harry was one of these chaps who was just full of energy. He played in goal for us and wasn’t a bad little keeper,” he said.
“But hurling really was his first love I believe.”
Hynes is set to visit one of the boys who was present during the incident at St Kieran’s, and said he is “inconsolable” at what happened.
Harry’s removal will take place tomorrow evening at his home in Gowran, with the funeral and burial scheduled for Friday morning in the village.
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