Tributes have been paid on both sides of the Atlantic to Ciaran O Conghaile, the native Irish speaker murdered in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester last weekend.
Construction worker O Conghaile was remembered fondly at his funeral Mass at St Mark’s the Evangelist Church on Dorchester Avenue.
His remains are on their way home to Ireland ahead of his burial on the Aran Islands on Saturday.
Mourners at the Boston service heard that the 36-year-old was a ‘God-fearing man, who had come to call Boston home’ during tributes in both Irish and English.
“It was our dream to come to America and it’s so unfortunate that this is the way that dream ended for one of us,” said Cork native James O’Sullivan at the funeral. “He was a quiet type of guy. He’d never harm anybody.”
Friend Michael Folan told mourners that Conghaile, who had lived in the area for 10 years, was: “an easy-going, happy-go-lucky guy”.
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Folan added: “He was welcome in any company. He would have been proud to see the Irish flag and the Galway flag flying outside of St Mark’s this morning.”
Local priest Rev Daniel J Finn told mourners: “Ciaran was a quiet, God-fearing man who had come to call Boston home and had no intention of ever leaving.”
Police have appealed to the Irish community in Dorchester for help as they bid to find those responsible for the murder, the 23rd violent killing in the neighborhood this year.
They have urged illegal Irish immigrants to come forward if they have been targeted by criminals.
Local detectives believe there may be a link between the fatal shooting and an armed robbery that took place just a block away earlier that evening.
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