As a tight-knit community struggles to come to terms with the murder of a popular teacher and part-time publican, gardai are continuing to appeal for information in order to piece together what occurred at Kenny’s Bar in Oughterard.
The body of 56-year-old John Kenny, who was a teacher at Athenry Presentation College, was found at 6pm on Sunday by his only daughter, Gillian. Mr Kenny’s hands had been tied behind his back and he was found in a ground floor room towards the rear of Kenny’s Bar.
While the murder probe continues, family and friends are today preparing to pay their respects and say their farewells. Mr Kenny’s remains will be reposing at Walsh’s Funeral Home from 5pm tomorrow with removal at 8pm to Oughterard Church where a funeral Mass will take place on Saturday at noon followed by burial at Kilcummin cemetery.
Parish priest Fr Jimmy Walsh, said it was a “huge tragedy for the community, a small community where people know everyone else”.
“Certainly the family are in total disbelief. Our thoughts are with the family, Kathleen and Gillian, his sister and brothers, and his colleagues at Presentation Athenry,” said Fr Walsh, who added the community would continue to give their support to the family “in our prayers, in our thoughts, and in our hearts”.
Fr Jimmy said the community would take a long time to recover, saying it was important to “ support and hold onto each other as well as we journey through it”.
“I am just stunned and the question is always: why, why, why? What is the purpose of this on the deeper human level andI don't have an answer. I hope and wish the gardai very well in their efforts to find whoever is involved.”
The murder investigation was launched on Monday following the results of a post-mortem which showed the father of one had died as a result of an assault. A number of appeals for information have been launched by investigating gardai who are said to be following different lines of inquiry.
It is understood gardai are investigating the possibility of two men being involved in the assault and that a sum of money was taken. It is further believed Mr Kenny may have known the person or persons and may have attempted to defend himself.
Appeals for information continued with the murder investigation featuring on RTÉ’s Crime Call programme on Tuesday night. Heading the investigation, Supt Noel Kelly, of Salthill Garda Station, made appeals for members of the public to contact gardai if they noticed anyone with marks consistent with being in a fight. He also appealed for tourists and other people who were in the Oughterard area on Saturday night and who had been using camcorders, taking pictures with their cameras or phones, to come forward with the footage as there was no CCTV available from Kenny’s Bar.
Mr Kenny, a secondary school teacher and son of a former garda, opened the family pub business on an occasional basis, usually at weekends. Once the grim discovery was made, the scene was sealed off by gardai for a forensic examination and State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy arrived on Monday to carry out the post mortem examination.
There were between 30 and 40 people on the premises at various stages on Saturday night and gardai were continuing their efforts to take statements yesterday while a specialist search team conducted further examinations of the murder scene at Kenny’s Bar.
Speaking about the devastating effect the loss of Mr Kenny has had on the community, local councillor Thomas Welby said: “It is a tragic time, a terrible loss for the family, and the community are very numbed by this, everyone is very upset. It is something that has not happened in the town for as long as I can remember, everyone is in shock. He was well known and well liked. There was never an event of this magnitude. The pub is on such a public busy road, a main thoroughfare, it is hard to imagine that as people were passing by this was taking place. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.”
A former student of Athenry Presentation College, Melanie McHugh, described Mr Kenny as “a breath of fresh air as a teacher who everyone liked and respected”. “It was a pleasure to know him. When I heard I was just devastated, it was a horrible end for such a wonderful guy.”
