A scout troop provided a guard of honour yesterday at the funeral Mass of 14-year-old Martin Duggan, who drowned in the river Blackwater in Fermoy, Co Cork, last Thursday evening.
The teenager's body was recovered at 8pm on Thursday two hours after he disappeared under the water. The boy, from Emmet St, Fermoy, had joined a number of other youths who went swimming in the river upstream of the town centre.
Gardaí have urged young people, especially non-swimmers, not to swim in the river Blackwater in Fermoy as parts of it have lethal undercurrents. Martin Duggan was described by friends at Coláiste an Phiarsaigh in Glanmire, Cork, as a "legend" who had an infectious sense of fun.
Teachers yesterday remembered a "very special boy" who always had all his friends laughing. The chief celebrant at the youth's funeral Mass, Fr Anthony O'Brien, said there was a sense of gloom around Fermoy following the tragic passing of the teenager.
He is survived by his parents Martin and Bernie, brother John, and sister Alice.