60 yellow roses placed by coffins of Irish students who died in Greece

A memorial for Andrew O’Donnell and Max Wall set up in the school they had recently graduated from. Picture: St Michael's College

There were 60 yellow roses placed by the coffins carrying the remains of two Leaving Cert students who died in Greece over the weekend as they boarded a ferry, their school principal has said.

Andrew O’Donnell and Max Wall, both 18, died while on their post-exam holiday with friends on the island of Ios.

On Tuesday morning, a thousand students lined the port on the Greek island in a “silent vigil” as the boys were taken to Athens accompanied by their parents.

At a memorial service held at their school, St Michael’s College in south Dublin, Mr Kelleher said the flowers were placed “by our boys as the ferry was about to pull out”.

He said: “Sixty boys from St Michael’s wanted to stay, wanted to be there, wanted to stand in solidarity.

“It is a mark of those men and of all the boys who were there searching, some of whom are here today, who went out searching for Andrew and we really are so proud of you.

We are so thankful to you and so proud of you that you are Michaels’ men and that you’ve done the right thing. We wouldn’t expect anything less.

“Our hearts go out to you and to the pain you are suffering.”

The double tragedy began when Andrew O’Donnell went missing on the island on Friday. A massive search operation got underway.

His remains were found on Sunday at around 1pm. Mr Kelleher said: “Post-mortems will determine the exact cause of death, but we understand with Andrew it was an accident at night and he fell.”

Max Wall fell ill on Sunday near the port on the island at around 2pm and was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

“Max underwent a successful operation on his heart around three years ago, but we understand he died of natural causes,” said Mr Kelleher.

Services

On Tuesday, fellow students and their families packed into St Michael’s College for thefirst of a number of services due to take place this week.

Mr Kelleher opened the Mass by saying: “There’s no script for this, there is no script today, there’s no powerful words that we can say other than to be together, to talk to one another, to hold each other’s hands.”

He said he has been in regular touch with Andrew and Max's families adding: “Our hearts are broken for the two families.

“They are making the most heartbreaking journey that any of us as parents or relatives will ever have to make.

“As a parent who has had three boys through the school, I know the anxiety that can exist when groups of young people go out together, even if that is for a weekend, but when it’s a holiday and they’ve all arrived home safely there’s a lifting of that anxiety.

“I know as a parent and I can imagine if you get a call, like that call that was made to those two families last Sunday, how gut-wrenching it was.

“It was unbelievable our hearts were absolutely smashed to smithereens and however bad it was for us, how must it have been for the parents to get that call?

“So, all we can do today is just think of Gavin, Bevin, Niall, Fiona, Rory, and Charlie who are here with us. Our hearts and souls go out to you all.” 

Classmates Andrew and Max were two of around 90 students from St Michael’s College who had gone to the Greek island last week.

Mr Kelleher said he had stood in the very same church just six weeks ago for a special Mass to mark the class of 2023 saying “these guys are going to change the world”.

“They came through the covid years and came through the difficult times, they emerged strong and tenacious," he said on Tuesday.

“They are a fantastic group of young men and to have something like this happen to you, it’s wrong and we really feel for you.”

He confirmed that some of the sixth-year boys who had been on the same holiday returned home on Monday night with their parents.

The school chaplain Fr Paddy Moran said he expects the remains of Andrew and Max to be home later this week.