‘We are grappling with the horrific news’: Mourners attend prayer service for teenagers who died in Greece

In the same chapel that Andrew O’Donnell and Max Wall’s Leaving Cert class celebrated their graduation Mass weeks earlier, mourners gathered on Tuesday afternoon to offer a prayer service for the two former St Michael’s College students who died within 24 hours of each other on the Greek island of Ios over the weekend.

Among those at the service were past pupils who had helped search for Mr O’Donnell after he went missing following a night out during a post-Leaving Cert holiday on Ios. The body of Mr O’Donnell (18) was found on rocks following an apparent fall, while, separately, Mr Wall (18) was discovered near to the island’s port, where it is believed he collapsed.

Addressing the service, Tim Kelleher, principal of the Ailesbury Road school, reserved special praise for students who stayed behind to search for their classmate.

“Sixty boys from St Michael’s wanted to stay, wanted to be there, wanted to stand in solidarity. It’s a mark of those men and mark of all the boys that were there searching – some of whom who are here today – who went out searching for Andrew.

Max Wall died ‘listening to the voice of a father who loved him’, funeral Mass told

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How an Irish tragedy unfolded on the Greek island of Ios

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Ios deaths: Funerals of Andrew O’Donnell and Max Wall to take place next week

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Postmortems concluded on bodies of Irish teenagers who died in Greece

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“We’re so thankful to you,” he said. “Our hearts go out to you and the pain you’re suffering.”

Opening the service, Mr Kelleher said he had been in touch in recent hours with the bereaved parents, who were soon to travel home from the Greek island. “They are making the most heartbreaking journey that any of us as parents or relatives will ever make.

“I know as a parent ... I can imagine if you got a call, like the call that was made to those two families last Sunday, how gut-wrenching it was,” Mr Kelleher said. “Our hearts and souls go out to you all.”

Silent vigil

Pupils formed a silent vigil and laid yellow roses as the bodies of Mr O’Donnell and Mr Wall were transported away from the island by ferry on Tuesday morning, Mr Kelleher told those gathered at the chapel.

Mourners filed into the chapel, located within the school building, before the start of the service at 12pm. The atmosphere was sober, filled only with the soft sounds of mourners clasping each other in supporting embraces, or whispered words of consolation.

Framed photographs of Mr O’Donnell and Mr Wall stood on the altar, below them a larger photograph of the St Michael’s class of 2023.

[ Postmortems for Irish students who died in Greece to take place on Wednesday ]

[ Andrew O’Donnell: Irish student who died in Ios, ‘a keen rugby player, star of soccer team, gregarious and fun’ ]

[ Max Wall: Irish teenager who died in Greece, was ‘gifted academically’ and ‘steeped’ in Leinster rugby tradition ]

Fr Paddy Moran, chaplain at St Michael’s College, spoke of his joy in celebrating the class of 2023′s graduation Mass some weeks ago. “It was such a privilege to preside at that moment. I watched these young men in front of me, filled with the joy of completion of the school experience, filled with the anticipation for life, as adults filled with a great sense of their own solidarity and support for each other.

“And before even a week has passed from the end of the Leaving Cert, we are grappling with the horrific news. The two of our men have gone to the Lord, two young men whose lives have ended – so suddenly and so many, many years, before the time we would expect.”

Mr Kelleher also spoke of May’s graduation Mass and the pride of teachers and parents in seeing the young men moving on to the next phases of their lives.

“We were thinking: ‘These guys are going to change the world, [they] are going to be fantastic.’

“To have something like this happen to you [fellow pupils], it’s wrong. It’s unexplainable and we really, really are suffering with you on it,” he said.

Fr Moran encouraged mourners to find solace in faith, and for students to cling on to “special” memories of the two late teenagers.

“It wasn’t always sadness and grief, hurt, loneliness, but that there was joy. You were together.”

In finishing his address, Mr Kelleher said those hurt by the tragedy would prevail, drawing on a quote attributed to Seamus Heaney: “Even if the hopes you started out with are dashed, hope has to be maintained.”

He added: “Together, we will maintain hope.”

Prayers were offered for the bereaved families and for those still on the island grappling with the tragedy.

Those affected by the 2015 Berkeley tragedy, in which five Irish J1 visa students, and one Irish-American, died after a balcony collapse during a party they were attending in California, were also given a special mention. So too were those who might be reminded “of previous losses, previous tragedies, previous hurts”.

Two books of condolences were opened in the chapel for those wanting to commiserate with the bereaved families.