Guard of honour for students who died in Greece as remains taken to Athens for autopsy
A memorial for Andrew O’Donnell and Max Wall set up in the school they had recently graduated from. Picture: St Michael's College
Two students who died while holidaying on an island in Greece received a guard of honour from around a thousand students as their bodies were taken to Athens for autopsy.
Andrew O’Donnell and Max Wall, both 18, died over the weekend while on a post-Leaving Cert holiday with friends on the island of Ios.
The classmates who had just completed their exams at St Michael’s College in south Dublin, were two of around 90 students from the same school who had gone to the Greek island to celebrate completing their exams last week.
On Tuesday, as their remains were being taken by ferry to Athens, classmates, friends and students from other schools lined the port as a mark of respect.
The boys' families, who flew out to be with them on Sunday, were also on the ferry.
Our doors and our hearts are open
— St Michael's College Union (@StMichaelsColl1) July 4, 2023
Thank you to all who formed a Guard Of Honour as Andrew and Max left IOS for Athens this morning.
Fr Paddy Moran CSSp and Tom Kelleher will officiate at services here today and tomorrow at 12 noon and 6pm
All welcome pic.twitter.com/0euUgtfucG
St Michael’s principal Tim Kelleher told the “Up to 1,000 students are on holidays on the island at the moment, according to the Tánaiste.
“All of them did a guard of honour this morning as the coffins of Andrew and Max left the island and were taken by ferry over to Athens. They are on their journey towards home now with their families and a postmortem will take place today.
“The gardaí are gone over to Athens, I understand, to help with the investigation, but it is my understanding that is standard practice”.
Mr Kelleher also confirmed that some of the sixth-year boys who had been on the same vacation returned home last night with their parents.
“A handful of the students are back now, and we have services and support here for them,” he said.
“There will be a service today for the students and their families, it is going to be private”.
The tight-knit community of south Dublin is in “shock and despair” over the deaths of the two young men.
Andrew went missing on Friday and his body was found on Sunday at around lunchtime after a massive search operation on the island.
Mr Kelleher added: “Postmortems will determine the exact cause of death, but we understand with Andrew it was an accident at night and he fell.”
Max, who in the past suffered with a heart condition, died of natural causes, according to his school principal. He fell ill on Sunday in Greece near the port on the island and was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
“Max underwent a successful operation on his heart around three years ago, his parents have confirmed, and we understand he died of natural causes,” said Mr Kelleher.
“It is an extremely difficult time, and we are here for the pupils who are making their way home. Many of their parents went over to collect them as did members of the parents’ council.”
Fr Paddy Moran, the school chaplain, told the on Monday that he hoped the remains of Andrew and Max would be home in the coming days.
“We believed it may be two or three days,” he said. “We are here to support the boys and their families, as well as the other students.
Andrew and Max have been described by their school as “extremely popular, academic and great sportsmen” who had their whole future ahead of them.
Mr Kelleher said the college will be taking care of the students over the next week and the building will remain open.
“I will put any updates on our website from today onwards,” he said. “We will take the next while to look after the boys and their families and appeal for privacy going forward as the students come home and then we will await the arrival of Andrew and Max."
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