Athenry shock at murder of popular teacher

THERE was shock and sadness in Athenry at the news of Oughterard man John Kenny's violent death over the weekend. [private] The popular part-time publican (56) had been a teacher at Presentation College Athenry for 19 years. Mr Kenny's body was found on the ground floor of his pub in Oughterard on Sunday. Yesterday Gardaí upgraded their investigation into the case to murder status. Mr Kenny was well known to many in Athenry and taught German, religion and history at the secondary school. He was also heavily involved in extra-curricular activities and coached soccer at the school. Mr Kenny's daughter Gillian is also a member of staff at the school. In a statement, the school said that Mr Kenny was 'held in high esteem by staff, students and parents alike. Our thoughts lie with his family, especially his wife Kathleen and his daughter Gillian.' It added 'the whole school community is in shock at this time. We mourn the loss of a colleague and a friend. The school is putting in place preparations to meet the pastoral care needs of the school community.' According to postmortem results, Mr Kenny died due to an assault. He was found with his hand tied and there were no signs of a break-in. Oughterard Gardaí are asking anyone with information to contact them on 091-557320. [/private]