The family of a Limerick man who was missing for 25 years will lay his body to rest today.
The remains of Denis Walsh will be exhumed from a communal grave in Galway and reinterred in his native Limerick.
The 23-year-old was reported missing in March 1996, but unknown to his family, his unidentified remains were discovered four weeks later off Galway Bay.
Limerick-based journalist David Raleigh says Denis' parents dedicated their lives to finding their son.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast with Susan Keogh, he explained how Denis' family described him as a sensitive, kind and caring person who always saw the bright side of life
He was a skilled sportsman but his sporting and college ambitions "fell away" after returned as a "completely different person" following a post-Leaving Cert holiday in the Netherlands.
By March 9th, 1996, Denis had been struggling with his mental health for a number of years and after having breakfast with his parents, he left to go into town but before departing, turned around and said "goodbye" to them.
This always stuck with Mary, Denis' mother. He was spotted in Limerick a few days later but he hadn't been in contact with his family in four or five days at that stage.
"His body was found washed up on the shoreline of Inishmore in Galway bay about four weeks later on April 7th, 1996," Mr Raleigh said.
"Fast forward 25 years and on February 5th this year, two Gardaí arrived at Denis Walsh's parents' house in Caherdavin, Co Limerick and notified them that the body that had been washed up on Inishmore 25 years previously, only four weeks after their son previously had gone missing, was in fact Denis.
"They were astounded by this because they had spent 25 years following false leads, whenever there was a reported sighting of Denis or a reported sighting of a missing person or a body found somewhere in Ireland, they would go there, they would hand out flyers of their son.
"They travelled abroad to England, they handed out flyers when they found out they might have been living there, so Denis and Mary, Denis' elderly parents, basically dedicated their lives over the past 25 years to finding Denis.
Another "poignant twist" to the story was that Denis and Mary were in Galway on April 6th, 1996, a day before their son's body was found.
They handed out fliers and called into a local Garda station.
Advances in DNA technology led to the identification of the remains as those of Denis this year.
Today the Walsh family will lay his body to rest. His funeral will take place in Caherdavin Church Limerick at 11.30am.
