‘The whole thing is a terrible shock to the system’

One of George Rothwell’s beloved horses stopped in his tracks for a moment and stared out from one of the fields fronting the stately Ballycormick House.

Behind him the large farm sheds continued to smoulder, the corrugated roof of the largest shed cut in half after collapsing. Large sheets of metal on the remaining roof twisted and rattled in the wind.

“He loved his horses,” said a local passing by, talking in short sentences, still in shock at the terrible tragedy that had hit this small rural community in Carlow.