THE ENNIS man beaten to death yesterday near the Co Clare village of Barefield was last night named as Eoin Ryan.
Mr Ryan (21) was the son of former Teachers’ Union of Ireland president Don Ryan and a nephew of mayor of Clare, Christy Curtin (Ind), and councillor and former Clare mayor, PJ Kelly (FF).
Mr Ryan, who was studying law, is also survived by his mother Phil and a brother and sister, both of whom are doctors.
Gardaí were continuing to question a Barefield man in his 30s at Ennis Garda station last night, after he was arrested yesterday on suspicion of murder under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.
Chief superintendent for the Clare division John Kerin said last night: “What has happened is an appalling tragedy for the family of the young man killed”.
Garda Chief Supt Kerin said the results of the postmortem carried out by State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy at the Midwestern Regional Hospital in Limerick yesterday afternoon concluded that Mr Ryan died of head injuries.
He said gardaí believe a weapon had been used. “We have not located it yet, but are methodically searching the crime scene.”
Garda Chief Supt Kerin said Ennis gardaí would be consulting with the Director of Public Prosecution as to whether to bring a charge. He confirmed that “a full-scale murder inquiry” had been launched.
Mr Ryan’s body was found yesterday in a barrel in a field 500 metres from a farmhouse at Cappagh Beg near Barefield, five miles from Ennis, shortly after 7am.
Gardaí made the discovery after receiving a phone call at Ennis Garda station.
Parish priest of Doora-Barefield Fr Jerry Carey said yesterday that “a sadness has descended over Barefield”.
“Barefield is a tight-knit community and people are genuinely shocked. We would never expect anything to happen, like what has happened, in a place like Barefield.”
Local councillor Brian Meaney (Green) said: “It is such a shock that something like this could happen in such a small and peaceful community. We are in deep shock.”
Gardaí were alerted to the possibility that the body discovered might be Mr Ryan’s after his father contacted Ennis Garda station yesterday morning to report that his son did not return home on Monday night.
Yesterday, a local taxi-driver came forward with information following an appeal by gardaí on Clare FM. He confirmed that he took a fare from two men in the early hours of Tuesday morning travelling from Ennis town centre to Cappagh Beg, Barefield.
Garda Chief Supt Kerin said: “The appeal on Clare FM also resulted in the man’s family coming forward to the Garda station”.
The area in which Mr Ryan’s body was found was sealed off pending a Garda forensic examination.