The late Ciaran Bishop dedicated decades of his life to campaigning for bereaved families following his daughter’s murder
Ciaran died peacefully on December 26, 2025, at St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, surrounded by his family.
Tributes have been paid to “a true gentleman”, following his death.
As a former board member of the Irish League of Credit Unions, he was remembered as “a rock for support encouragement and advice”.
Tubercurry Credit Union said: “Ciaran was a great support to us, and made many trips to meet with us here in Tubbercurry, to help in any way, and when having a credit union in Tubbercurry was just an idea over 30 years ago. We have a huge debt of gratitude to him, and are so very sorry to hear of his passing.”
The late Ciaran Bishop.
Bray residents also took to social media to offer their condolences to the family, with one writing that Jill “has never been forgotten by the people of Bray”.
In 1996, he set up a support group called the ‘Jill project’, having realised there were limited resources offering comfort and advice for the family following the murder of their daughter.
Jill was just 18 when she was killed by Michael Dean McLaughlin, then aged 23, after a Halloween disco on the seafront. Her badly-beaten body was found the next day behind the wall of a house with a £1 coin forced down her throat.
Jill had gone to the disco with her 16-year-old sister, Karen, and met McLaughlin there. They all left together and Karen had walked ahead with others. She arrived home to her parents, Ciaran and May, at around 3.30am, but two hours later there was still no sign of Jill.
Jill’s body was found later that morning by a young boy in in a laneway at the back of a house on Strand Road. The brutal killing shocked the quiet seaside town and in 2007, the same house resurfaced in the news when the late Sinéad O’Connor bought it for almost €2m, reportedly unaware of the painful history behind it.
McLaughlin began getting day release in 2012, and his temporary release gradually became more regular and for longer periods afterwards.
Speaking to the Irish Independent, in 2016, Ciaran recalled how the family were “never given counselling”, while his killer, at the age of 48, was looking forward to a long life ahead of him as he reached the end of his 25-year sentence.
Although a quarter-of-a-century had passed since Jill’s murder, her father remembered every detail and he refused to speak of forgiveness.
“We will never forgive him,” he said. “People have asked us could we ever forgive him, but it’s not our place to forgive him – only Jill could do that, but she’s not here. I wake up every morning at 3.30, the time Jill was supposed to come home.
“We won’t have her ever again. The State supports prisoners like McLaughlin, but what support do we get? Nothing whatsoever. We were never given counselling or anything, yet he seems to be a priority for the system.
The late Jill Bishop. Photo: Gerry Mooney
“We’re told he won’t be able to live or be in areas like Bray, but who polices that? How do we know we won’t bump into him in the city some day?”
McLoughlin was released from jail a year later, but in the run-up to him being given his freedom, the Bishop family campaigned for his photograph to be circulated because they, and others, would not have known what he looked like.
Under the Data Protection Act, that request was refused and it was only when The Evening Herald published a photo of him that a cafe worker in Dublin raised the alarm that McLaughlin had been approaching her at work and trying to strike up a friendship with her. She was 18 years old.
He ended up back behind bars and applied for parole in 2018, but was refused. He has applied twice since then, but in October 2025 learnt that his latest attempt has also been unsuccessful.
Ciaran Bishop was the husband of May, and father to John, Karen and the late Jill,
He had three grandchildren, Corey, Chloe and Naomi, and four great-grandchildren, Rúadh, Leo, Morgan and Calvin.
He is also survived by his sister Betty, brothers Vaughan and Kevin, daughter-in-law Natalie, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.
He will repose in Colliers Funeral Home, Old Connaught Avenue, Bray on Tuesday (December 30) from 4pm-6pm. The funeral mass will take place on Wednesday (December 31) at 10am in St Peter’s Church, Little Bray followed by cremation in Mount Jerome, Harold’s Cross, Dublin. House private at all times.