Mass marks anniversary of Holohan killing

The first anniversary of the death of schoolboy Robert Holohan will be marked at a Mass in his local church next Sunday.

The 11-year-old was killed on January 4 last year by his next-door neighbour, Wayne O’Donoghue, at Ballyedmond, Midleton.

Midleton parish priest Fr Eamon Gould said that Robert’s parents Mark and Majella had requested the Mass.

“It’s the regular Sunday Mass, not a special once-off Mass. This is what they decided,” he said

Prayers will be said at the Mass in the Church of the Holy Rosary for Robert, his parents and their two young children.

The family have received a flood of messages of sympathy and goodwill from people nationwide in the run up to the first anniversary of their son’s death.

Wayne O’Donoghue, 21, was acquitted of the murder of Robert Holohan by a jury in Cork last month but found guilty of manslaughter. He is due to be sentenced at the Central Criminal Court in Ennis on January 24.