Baltimore tragedy: ‘Barry was a hero, willing to die for the love of his life’

A hero, a magnetic presence, even a boy wizard – Barry Davis Ryan was many things, and yesterday he was the central figure in the celebration of a young life cut short and the story of those who helped to bring him home.

Under smudgy drizzle, hundreds gathered at the Sacred Heart Church at Rath, just outside Baltimore, for the funeral service of a 20-year-old who had crammed a lot into those years, building the memories all his family and friends will carry with them.

It was a crowd reflecting town and country, young and old. The family of Niamh O’Connor, his beloved girlfriend, were present, as were members of the RNLI and the Coast Guard and the local diving teams which had contributed so much to the discovery of his body last Friday, almost a week after his father, Barry Snr, and Niamh had been laid to rest.