About 500 people, including the mother of the 11-month-old baby found dead in an apartment on Sunday, attended a special Mass in Killarney’s St Mary’s Cathedral yesterday afternoon.
Baby Karol Rozycki had brought the Polish and Irish communities together, Fr Piotr Delimat, the Polish chaplain serving the Diocese of Kerry, told the congregation.
“It doesn’t matter where we are from – we all love our children,” he said.
Gardaí involved in the investigation, among them members who responded to the emergency call and Polish members of the investigating team, attended the Mass.
Also in attendance were staff from the Aghadoe Heights Hotel where the baby's mother, Anna Rozycka works, and numerous young families and their children.
Fr Kieran O’Brien, parish priest of Killarney, said the prayers and thoughts of the community were with Ms Rozycka and her family.
‘Broken hearts’
Ms Rozycka was grateful for all the support she received from her work colleagues, the Garda, the Park Place Apartments’ owners and the wider community, the priest said. “I am sure that baby Karol will continue to be their strength at this time . . . that he will heal their broken hearts and comfort them today, and always,” Fr O’Brien said.
The Mass was sung and spoken in Polish and in English and concelebrated also by Fr Pat Crean Lynch attached to Ballymacelligott near Tralee
Symbols of Karol’s life – a picture, flowers and his candles – were carried to special table in front of the altar by relatives and friends. The procession included the child’s mother and grandmother Tereasa.
Lighting a candle for her son before the family took their seat at the front of the congregations, Ms Rozycka was greeted and blessed at the altar by Fr Delimat.
Comfort
A picture of the Divine Mercy from Krakow Cathedral was on the altar. It had been circulating in Polish homes in Killarney in recent weeks and would now be placed in the home of the bereaved family to comfort them, the priest said.
A friend of the family spoke at the end in English and in Polish to thank everyone, including the interpreters. In his short life, Karol had brought huge happiness to the family and friends – much more perhaps than a person who lived a lot longer might, he said.
The child will be buried in Poland – in his mother’s home town of Bielsko-Biala, near Krakow – but Fr Delimat said “part of Karol will stay in Killarney”.
The child's body is being released to the family today. The results of a postmortem were not being released for operational reasons, Det Supt Flor Murphy said.
The father of the child, a man in his 30s found with serious injuries in the apartment on Sunday, remains in hospital. The child’s mother raised the alarm when she returned from work.