The day innocence died in Tullamore

Reporter Geraldine Grennan writes of what the town of Tullamore and its people have experienced and witnessed in recent days

Living in rural Ireland can almost lull one into a false sense of security. We are very familiar with our surroundings, are on friendly terms with our neighbours and we go about our daily business in what some people might perceive as a mundane and uneventful way.

That notion of security was shattered into a million pieces on a bright and sunny afternoon in Tullamore last week when a beautiful young woman whose future was filled with promise and possibility was brutally murdered as she went out for a jog along the banks of the Grand Canal at Cappincur.

Before Ashling Murphy’s murder, Tullamore was probably best known around the world as being home to a very famous brand of whiskey. Following the horrific events of the last week, it is now known right across the country, and beyond, as the town where a young teacher went out for a jog after work and was attacked and brutally murdered in broad daylight.

That something so shocking could happen on a scenic walkway that is widely used by people of all ages has shocked the people of Tullamore and the wider area to the very core.

I have lived in Tullamore for almost 30 years and our family home is less than one kilometre from the nearest access point to the Grand Canal. The sight of a young woman jogging along that scenic route on a bright, sunny afternoon is so ordinary as to be unremarkable.

I have two daughters almost the same age as Ashling Murphy who walk and run along the Grand Canal regularly. In fact, it is the sheer ordinariness of what the tragic young schoolteacher was doing when she was randomly attacked and killed that has frightened people even more.

The sense of shock, anger, disbelief and overwhelming sorrow that has engulfed Tullamore for more than a week now has pervaded every aspect of life in the town. With a huge Garda presence everywhere, numerous checkpoints, books of condolence, the glare of the national media and many candlelight vigils, it is impossible to get away from the tragedy unfolding before all our eyes.

Ashling Murphy, gifted musician, camogie player, teacher and, above all, adored daughter, sister, girlfriend, cousin and friend could be any one of us, and indeed she is every one of us. We see her in the faces of our daughters, our sisters,our friends and we think the unthinkable “what if?”

In the face of such unimaginable grief, pain and loss, the dignity of the heartbroken Murphy family has been almost too much to comprehend for those of us looking on, as they attended not one, but three vigils in memory of their beloved youngest daughter and also visited the spot on the banks of the Grand Canal where her life came to such a swift and cruel end.

Parish priest, Fr Joe Gallagher, did his best to make sense of the senseless at the candlelit vigil in Tullamore Town Park before a crowd of over 5,000 people when he simply said “this is a time of grief beyond words.”

Grown men, women and children were reduced to tears at the vigil and also at Masses over the weekend where priests of the parish struggled to impart some words of comfort to parishioners in the face of such an unspeakable tragedy.

In an attempt to make sense of the murder of Ashling Murphy, a steady stream of people have been making their way up to the Town Park to gaze at the hauntingly beautiful picture of the smiling and carefree young teacher and ponder awhile at the heart-shaped display of candles and tealights that have been lighting up the night skies over Tullamore and countless corners of the country since the terrible news of her murder emerged.

Among the countless poignant notes pinned to the memorial board in the Town Park is one in a childish scrawl in big red writing which says “Ms. Murphy, I hope you have a good time in Heaven.”

If only we could preserve that innocence.