A steady stream of cars pulled up at a busy bend in the road that links Ballymun and Finglas in north Dublin yesterday afternoon.
Drivers and passengers emerged, flowers in hand, to add their contribution to the dozens of bouquets already laid by the concrete bollards close to where the body of Alzheimer's patient Peggy Mangan was found.
Ms Mangan left her home in the Mount Tallant Avenue area of Terenure with her Cavalier King Charles spaniel at about 11am last Tuesday. She was spotted at various places in the city over the following days, including Clanbrassil Street and Glasnevin.
Extensive searches were carried out in the Finglas and Ballymun areas with hundreds of volunteers taking part. Her body was discovered by two volunteers at approximately 3.30pm on Saturday. Her faithful dog Casper had remained at her side and died less than three hours later.
It is understood a postmortem carried out on the body of Ms Mangan at the weekend did not uncover anything malicious and found she had died of natural causes.
Gratitude
In a statement on Facebook, the Mangan family thanked all those who had given their time since Ms Mangan went missing.
“We have been overwhelmed by the level of support and sacrifice that the incredible people of Finglas and so many other parts of the country gave us,” the family said.
“For those who knew Peggy, she was the most beautiful and caring woman you could ever meet, for those that now know her, she has touched all your souls.
“We were absolutely determined to bring Peggy home and can now take great solace in having achieved that.”
The furniture store Ikea, with its multitude of car parks bounded one side of the field where the 65 year old was found, with the road joining Ballymun to the M50 bounding the other.
Garda tape marked off two areas: one further back from the busy road near a line of trees, the other close to the edge of the road and the concrete bollards.
Among the dozens of bouquets laid against the bollards, one of lilies carried a note reading, “Dear Peggy, we tried so hard to bring you home and we’re so sorry we couldn’t, may you sleep well in God’s arms now, the People of Finglas.”
Another said “you captured the hearts of so many” while a third wished she was now “in a warm, safe and happy place”.
Sandy and Michael Petyt placed their own flowers with the others and said they had taken part in the search on Friday and Saturday at Tolka Valley Park and other areas. They had travelled up from outside Clane in Co Kildare to lend a hand. Men and women of all ages had taken part.
“My mother had Alzheimer’s and I felt that connection,” Sandy said.
“The little dog was with her the whole time; that’s unconditional love.”
Search
Robbie Kubiak, another volunteer from the locality where Ms Mangan was found, said he had spent Friday searching the Charlestown area.
“I just heard the news and it’s tragic; I still can’t believe it,” he said. “A good friend lost his mum five years ago just like that. It’s really sad.”
Marie Benson from Cabra, who had also volunteered to help in the search, said a lot of people were touched by Ms Mangan’s story because they had loved ones with the condition.
“It’s heartbreaking. They have to find some cure for that disease,” she said.
Carol Woolhead from Celbridge, Co Kildare, stopped with a friend to place a sympathy card. There were no flowers left to be bought in the local area, she said. “We’ve got elderly parents ourselves. It’s just so tragic – it really did touch our hearts.”
