It was a family holiday, organised to celebrate Laura having just finished her Junior Cert up at Temple Carrig in Blacklion.
The place was Crete, the happy Greystones student joining her proud parents John and Nicky alongside her best friend and her parents, on the Greek island getaway.
The place was Crete, the happy Greystones student joining her proud parents John and Nicky alongside her best friend and her parents, on the Greek island getaway.That the popular 15-year-old Greystones student should tragically drown in the hotel swimming pool is, of course, completely heartbreaking.
Here was a moment of joy, the first day of a well-earned holiday, marking another milestone in a young life, and suddenly, that shining light went out.
There’s some comfort in knowing that Laura must have been full of joy before she passed, having just completed exams in a school that she reportedly loved and, from what we’ve learnt very quickly, loved her too. Laura was, say those who knew her, full of fun, sporty and extremely bright. The fact too that she was with her 
parents, on a beautiful Greek island, in the sun, having fun, means her last days must have been very happy ones.
That still doesn’t stop this from being a painful, difficult time for those close to Laura, of course, but it’s important to recognise the sparkles of light when life goes this dark on us.
Speaking on the tragedy, Church Of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin Michael Jackson – a patron of Temple Carrig – spoke of his “deep sadness” upon hearing of Laura’s passing, extending his sincere sympathies to her family, and praying that “they know God’s strength in their heartache and devastating loss“.
The real memories of Laura will be here in Greystones through, not only with her parents and her sister, Siofra and Caoimhe, but in Temple Carrig, with her hockey team or the lifesaving club, or in her beloved Greystones Sailing Club. With all those who laughed and learnt, who played and partied, who studied and danced with her.