The death of Robert Holohan and the conviction of Wayne O'Donoghue for manslaughter has cast a shadow over much of Midleton, which is still coming to terms with the boy's death, writes Carl O'Brien.
Yesterday Seán Ó Floinn, principal of Robert Holohan's primary school, was trying to keep his pupils distracted from events in the Central Criminal Court in Cork.
"All you can do is get on with the job," said Ó Floinn, head of Midleton CBS national school. "Most children here, especially his classmates, have experienced extraordinary upheaval. So we're not encouraging any talk about it today. We're trying to make everything as normal as possible."
Almost a year on, the death of Robert Holohan still casts a long shadow over Midleton. Among the areas hardest hit was Ballyedmond, a small community about two miles outside the town where the families of Robert Holohan and Wayne O'Donoghue lived.
The O'Donoghue family - father Ray, a builder, mother Therese, and sons Timmy and Nicky - moved out of their home within hours of Wayne making his confession to gardaí.
They are now living in another town in Co Cork.
The Holohan family, who lived close by, has been receiving widespread support from the local community.
Local auctioneer and town councillor Ken Murray says there is sympathy for both families devastated by the events of last January.
"There's sympathy for everyone involved," he said. "There might be differing views on how it happened, but it's not divisive or anything. It's been a terrible tragedy for everyone," he says. "The fact that this involved ordinary middle-class families has added to the impact. There's a feeling of, 'there but for the grace of God'."
A local parent, who declined to be named, added that much of the community is still coming to terms with the death of the 11-year-old.
The court case, in which disturbing details surfaced, has added to the sense of gloom.
"There is still a very deep sense of sadness and loss in the area. You have two families which have been to hell and back. There has been an air of depression and sadness here since last year," the father said.
The death of Robert was the last thing Midleton, a town which has been blighted by a high rate of suicide in the recent past, needed.
"It's the latest sad event heaped on to what has been a series of very sad incidents," said one parent.
"The verdict, I hope, is the first stage towards some kind of recovery for the families affected."
One positive to emerge was the enormous display of volunteerism during the searches that helped revive what had been a flagging sense of community spirit.
Seán Ó Floinn says the outpouring of generosity, and the support of schools from outside of Cork, was an extremely gratifying experience.
"We got cards and messages of support from the 5th and 6th class pupils of a school in Darndale in Dublin, for example. That's just one example," he says. "People went out of their way to offer help and support."
Although the school is trying to restore some semblance of normality, Ó Floinn adds that Robert will never be forgotten by the school or its pupils.
His smiling face still beams out of the classroom pictures which adorn the wall of the school, while a special tree has been planted in the school grounds in his memory.
"Ultimately, children are resilient. They can cope with a lot of things. They can handle all sorts of pressure, whether that's at home or elsewhere. While it's been difficult, they will all cope into the future."