Remains found in Galway Bay last week are those of a missing North Clare resident, Maria Hennigar, gardaí have confirmed.
35-year-old Ms Hennigar was reported missing on November 22 although she hadn’t been seen since early November.
Family and friends of Ms Hennigar had been searching large areas of north Clare despite having no indication where Maria was or if she was actually missing.Hundreds of people joined the searches which also involved the Irish Coast Guard, Clare Civil Defence and gardaí.
When part of a body was discovered in the sea near Kilcolgan on November 29, Ms Hennigan’s family was informed and DNA samples were taken so they be could compared to those taken from the body.
Maria’s family have thanked the Gardaí and volunteers search teams for their efforts in the search.
Today (Friday), her sister, Amanda Hennigar posted of Facebook, “Sadly, we confirm the passing of our sister Maria. We wish to express our sincerest gratitude and appreciation for all of the support, concern and kindness that everyone has shown to us in recent weeks.
“We particularly would like to thank the Gardai and Irish Coast Guard and Search and Rescue services in contributing to the search for Maria. We are taking time as a family to process this, so please do not be offended if efforts to contact us go unanswered.”
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.