School friends are set to gather in Athboy on Saturday to remember Páraic Coffey, who died in an unsolved hit-and-run incident in Co. Meath 30 years ago
13:07, 12 Jun 2026Updated 13:14, 12 Jun 2026
Paraic Coffey was only eighteen-years old when he was fatally injured by a vehicle
This weekend, school friends will gather to honour the memory of a beloved companion who tragically lost his life in an unsolved hit-and-run incident three decades ago, as an RTE star has reissued her appeal for information regarding her cousin’s death.
Páraic Coffey, aged 18, was left to die on a country road in Co Meath in a case that has remained a mystery, despite countless garda appeals spanning 30 years, leaving a heartbroken family without any answers or closure.
The fifth-year student was making his way home from a disco in Athboy to the close-knit Gaeltacht community of Rathcairn at about 3am on 9th June 1996 when he was struck by a car. The vehicle was never found.
Gardaí pursued multiple leads and the family made relentless pleas to identify his killer, but no answers emerged for his parents Patrick and Judy, and his siblings Gerard, Sean, Caitriona and Cormac, who have resolved never to give up looking for justice for their brother.
Among those who have appealed for information is Páuraic’s cousin, well-known RTE presenter Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh, who recalled the haunting moment her sister learned of her cousin’s death, reports the Irish Mirror.
“I’ll never forget that 5am phone call. My sister Máire was staying with myself and my husband at the time and I’ll never forget her screeching,” she said in recent years. “All the cousins were very close and we all played with each other growing up. When we came back to Meath from Canada and Judy and Patrick came back from England, we all lived near each other in Trim.
“I remember not understanding what had happened, even though I was an adult, until he was laid out in the coffin and touching his hand, it felt so fragile. There was a strange eeriness because we didn’t know any young people who had died before.
“It was a horrific time. I can still hear Judy crying and the silence from Patrick. He didn’t speak. He couldn’t. It was really awful.
“The local road he was killed on was always used by young people to walk home from nights out in Athboy. I often walked it with friends and the lads thought nothing of walking home on it by themselves.
“I remain optimistic. I keep thinking anytime now, any day now, someone will walk into a garda station with information. Someone out there must be suffering with the weight of this secret on their shoulders.”
Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh at the funeral of Bill O’Herlihy(Image: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin)
A group of school friends will now meet up in Athboy this Saturday to remember their friend who lives on in all their memories.
“There will be about 15 of us meeting to remember him,” said Gary Costello. “I was driving to work on his anniversary and I just veered left instead of right and headed down the road where he passed away to pay my respects at the spot where he died. I just text a few people and within minutes, the phone was lighting up with former school mates with memories so we wanted to meet up to share them all again.
“It’s 30 years but the memories are still as vivid today. Páraic was the kind of guy that everyone loved and knew and if you didn’t know him, you wanted to get to know him. HIs presence would light up a room and his personality was infectious. Everyone has stories to tell about him – even the teachers.
“I remember back then sitting out the back of a pub after the funeral and we were all devastated. The Irish band The Corrs were huge at the time and the song ‘Forgiven, not forgotten,’ was playing.
“James Mulvaney, one of the lads said, that’s Páraic’s song, he’s forgiven for leaving us but he will never be forgotten and that is still so true today.
“30 years on and we are all parents ourselves and realise how his parents have to go to bed every night and get up the next day, without knowing what exactly happened that night.
“It’s never too late. Someone out there knows and can give the family the answers they need and deserve so they can concentrate fully on remembering Páraic instead of constantly wondering.”
Anyone with any information can contact their local garda station or the confidential line on 1800 666 111.
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