A memorial mass to remember the death of Joseph Pyke, a teenage boy who died at St Joseph's industrial school, in Co Kerry, will be held in Tralee tonight.
Joseph Pyke died on February 9th, 1958, after being transferred to the County Hospital from the industrial school.
The mass will be held at Rath Cemetery Tralee, Co Kerry at 6 p.m. this evening.
Mr John Prior of the Joseph Pyke Memorial Trust, himself a former resident of the Christian Brothers-run school, is trying to further the campaign calling for a public inquiry into the death of Joseph Pyke.
Mr Prior alleges that Joseph died when a boil on his shoulder burst internally during a beating. According to his death certificate, Joseph died from septicaemia. Mr Prior said he witnessed the beating and claimed the boy's septicaemia resulted from it.
"The last I saw of him was being kicked on the ground with hobnail boots. The next I saw of him he was in a coffin in a church," Mr Prior said.
But Brother David Gibson, Provincial of the Irish Christian Brothers' Northern Province, denies the allegation. "With regard to Mr John Prior's version of how Joseph Pyke died, I totally refute the suggestion that he died as a result of a beating he received in Tralee. There is no evidence whatsoever for this, and inquiries by the gardaí bear this out," he said .
A Garda unit set up in 1999 to investigate St Joseph's faced difficulties in the case of Joseph Pyke.
Insp Martin McCarthy said "the Brother alleged to have beaten the teenager died during the investigation. Further, there was the probability that the teenager might not be in the grave marked as his and that, if he were, it was most likely other boys were buried there, too."
"Identification of the remains would prove difficult as Joseph Pyke had no known living relatives from whom DNA samples might be taken."
Such DNA would be "absolutely necessary" before an exhumation could take place," Insp McCarthy said.
However, Mr Prior has vowed not to stop his efforts for a public inquiry. "I made a promise at that grave that I wouldn't stop until justice was done," he said today.
