A memorial tree will be planted on the Salthill Promenade next week to honour the life of Galway-based photographer Trent Keegan just days after what would have been his 34th birthday.
Five days after Mr Keegan’s birthday on August 12 friends and colleagues of the New Zealand photographer, who was killed in Nairobi, Kenya, earlier this year, will join in Salthill to plant a tree in honour of the 33 years he lived and to commemorate the birthday that he tragically never lived to see.
Mr Keegan, who had worked and lived in Galway for the last number of years, had moved to the African country of Kenya in early 2008 with plans of basing himself out of the capital city of Nairobi.
Just two months after his arrival, on the morning of May 28, his body was found in a ditch along the city’s main highway. There was speculation that he was murdered because of a story he was working on about Masai Tribesmen who were being forced off their land by an influential American safari company.
Last month five suspects were arrested in connection with the murder when Kenyan police recovered 15 items taken from Mr Keegan at the time of his death, including his laptop and his digital camera. T
he Kenya police still insist the incident was a robbery gone wrong.
The tree planting ceremony will take place on Sunday August 17 at 2pm in the green area at Palmers Rock on the Promenade. The 6ft pine tree will be planted by the Galway City Council just a short distance from where more than 300 mourners gathered in Salthill on June 3 for an emotional memorial service in the photographer’s honour just days after his death.
