Prayers for man who died after assault in home

PRAYERS were said yesterday for suspected murder victim Cyril Moran in the church where he spent most of his life since childhood.

While deputy state pathologist Dr Michael Curtis was carrying out a postmortem examination on the 60-year-old’s body, there were prayers for him at the Holy Cross Friary, Sligo.

Mr Moran was also an ace pub-quiz competitor and once ran junior soccer in Sligo.

Meanwhile, the second of two men questioned by gardaí in connection with a vicious assault on Mr Moran was released yesterday from Manorhamilton station. The first man was released on Saturday.

Gardaí said a file on the two men, aged 28 and 29, and both from Sligo town, was being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Single man Mr Moran, who was known to be gay, died on Sunday after receiving head, leg and arm wounds in an assault in his rented home in River Road, Cartron Point, Sligo, on Thursday.

Hours later he was driven to Sligo General Hospital where he was dropped off and admitted himself as a patient to accident and emergency. He slipped into a coma.

Sligo-Leitrim and District Junior Soccer League secretary Noel Kennedy recalled when Mr Moran was an avid member of the organisation.

Mr Kennedy said: “He was secretary of the league in the 70s. He was a very good administrator and dedicated much of his time to the sport.

“He was devoted to his mother, with whom he shared a house before she died. He was an extremely inoffensive man and was absolutely totally non-violent. He never deserved what happened to him.”

The secretary of the Cartron Point Residents’ association, Sheila Leyden, said: “The community is in a state of shock at this very tragic incident. This is a residential area and it’s not something that you expect on your own doorstep. It came as a total shock to everybody.”

Other neighbours, however, reluctant to be identified by name, complained of parties at the house.