Parishioners in Mourneabby began arriving for a vigil mass for missing student Karen Buckley as a 21-year-old man was detained in Glasgow.
Friends, relatives and neighbours filed into the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel, Analeentha, Mourneabbey, outside Mallow, Co Cork for an hour before a Mass of Hope was due to begin.
Parish priest of Mourneabbey Fr Joe O’Keeffe said the purpose of the Mass was to pray for the safe return of Karen Buckley at this anxious time for the whole community.
“As you can imagine this is a particularly difficult and a particularly painful time for the Buckley family and indeed for all of us.
“I ask for prayers for the safe return of Karen and for the intentions of her parents Marion and John and her brothers Brendan, Kieran and Damian.”
Fr O’Keeffe said the Buckley family had the “absolute support of the greater community” but the mood locally was sombre.
“The Buckley family are in our thoughts and in our prayers and will continue to be until there is a final outcome to this situation.
“We are all affected, it’s a small parish community but a close knit one. We are all feeling for the Buckley family without exception,” Fr O’Keeffe said.
Neighbours have taken over the day-to-day running of the family farm as John and Marion Buckley remain in Glasgow while the search for their daughter continues.
“I know for a fact particularly the neighbours and friends are rallying around and looking after the homestead while Karen’s parents are in Glasgow and they are doing all they can to support the family from this side. As you can appreciate we are somewhat removed from John and Marion and from Karen but that being the case we are still very much with them spiritually,” Fr O’Keeffe said.
There were scenes of anguish as community members made their way into the church, which was packed with hundreds of parishioners. A crowd of around 100 people spilled out of the chapel and remained outside during the Mass.
Schoolfriends of Karen’s at St Mary’s Secondary School in Mallow described her as “lovely, quiet and sporty”.
“She’s a lovely, lovely girl, very quiet, sporty, she was never in trouble in school. This is very sad. It’s kind of hard to fathom,” said one. Another said; “It’s hard, I still can’t believe it. People go missing all the time but never so close to home.”
Fr Sean Corkery grew up in the parish of Mourneabbey. He said the local community was stunned and shocked.
“This Mass is an important moment. People feel the need to reach out to the family in any way they can, so they gather to pray together. I think their biggest prayer is that the family will feel the strength of the community and the community’s prayer behind them.”
Fr Corkery said Karen and her siblings were very close. “They are a beautiful family. We are shocked and stunned. You can’t have that happen to one of your own and not be that way. She is missing and we all pray and hope the family feel the strength of the community behind them,” he said.
Family friend John Cronin, from Mallow described the Buckley’s as ‘salt of the earth people.’
“A lot of people want to show their solidarity in an open way. This Mass is a way for them to do that and it’s important to us,” he said.
“I know her father very well and her grandfather too. They are in a desperate state. That poor girl. They are great parishioners. They always co-operated in everything here. It’s a small community. They are extremely quiet, never wanted the limelight, they would not be that kind of people.”
Bishop of Cloyne Dr William Crean asked for prayers for the safe return of Karen Buckley.
“We have all been deeply touched by the unconditional love expressed by John and Marian for their daughter Karen. I ask the parish community of Mourneabbey, as you gather together this evening for the Mass of Hope for the Buckley family, to join with me in prayer for the safe return of Karen, and for her anxious parents and brothers Brendan, Kieran and Damian,” he said.