Eoghan Culligan has been remembered by friends and former teachers as an excellent student, sportsman and fun-loving "all-rounder".
Mr Culligan (21) from Rathfarnham, Dublin had just completed his third year in Supply Chain Management and Logistics at Dublin Institute of Technology and was due to start his final year of studies in September. He played Gaelic football with DIT but had a life-long association with Ballyboden St Enda’s, whose chairman Brendan Moran described him as “a lovely guy with very good ability”.
He was 6 ft 3 in tall but above all “a bundle of fun”, Mr Moran added. Team-mates and coaches were too upset yesterday talk about the tragedy, and Mr Moran said it had left an “empty, hollow feeling” at the club.
However, "the community of the GAA has been extraordinarily strong and I am very, very grateful for that," he said. The club and the family had received messages of support from clubs across Ireland and abroad.
In a statement earlier, Ballyboden St Enda’s extended its sympathy to Mr Culligan’s family and to the families of all those grieving from the tragedy. “Eoghan has been a member of Ballyboden St Enda’s since childhood and was part of the minor A Championship team that were beaten by Castleknock GAA in the county final of 2011.
“He continued to play football with both the Intermediate and Junior teams. Eoghan was very popular with his team mates and this tragic news is keenly felt by all members of our club, but especially by those players and mentors who knew him well.”
Mr Culligan, one of two past pupils of St Mary's College, Rathmines to die in the tragedy, had completed a two-month work placement with freight company Ace Express before flying out to California.
One of his DIT lecturers, Audrey Jennings, said: “He was just a great guy to work with, a very good student, a good guy all-round. He was excellent in group situations in class, I would have said a first-class student.”
Head of department Margaret Farrell met family members on Tuesday evening, and while most students have left campus for the summer chaplaincy services are being made available to friends. Mr Culligan is survived by parents Gerry and Marie, and his brothers Stephen and Andrew.