_WORLD WATCH______________________________
____________________ Ireland ________________

Midday murder
Drifter charged in nun’s slaying
A 68-year-old nun was raped and murdered in Ballybay—in County Monaghan, Ireland—on December 14. Police soon apprehended a man with a record of violent crime, but they could not provide a motive for what appeared to be a random attack.

Sister Philomena Lyons was waiting for a bus on a Saturday morning when she was dragged into an alley near her convent, assaulted, and strangled. The attack occurred in daylight on a public street. Authorities arrested Kealan Herron on the same day as the nun’s funeral. Bishop Joseph Duffy of Clogher presided at funeral services for the slain nun, attended by 500 badly shaken mourners.

Back to Catholic World Report February 2002 Table of Contents