The John Sheehy Leaving Cert student at a Dingle school have been urged to continue with their exams as a tribute to one of their classmates who tragically died in hospital. John Sheehy, an 18 year old student at the town's CBS Secondary School, died in Cork University Hospital after having been ill for more than five weeks. It is believed that John suffered an aneurysm in his brian. Principal of Dingle CBS, Padraig Firtéar paid tribute to a young man who he remembers as extremely popular with staff and students alike. "John was very fond of sports particularly Gaelic football and had been on our teams throughout his six years at the school," Mr Firtéar explained. "He was an outgoing happy lad with a lot of friends amongst his fellow students and the teaching staff. "There's a cloud over the whole town after hearing this news. "Obviously all of us, both students and teachers, are very saddened, but we have been advising his classmates to get on with their exams and to do their very best for John's sake," he said. Mr Firtéar also confirmed that John's younger brother and sister, Thomas and Katie, were both scheduled to sit Junior Cert this year. The minor trainer with Dingle GAA Club, Vincent Flannery, who coached John in football for several years, described him as a player who was totally reliable and 'one in a hundred'. "He'd train seven nights a week if you asked him, he'd play anywhere and was totally committed," Mr Flannery told The Kerryman. Mr Flannery also revealed that John's team mates had hoped to visit him in hospital in a few week's time, anticipating that he would be on the road to recovery by that stage. "Then to hear on Monday that he had died was a terrible shock. "All our thoughts are with John's family after what they've been through," he said. John is survived by his parents, Kitty and Joe, brothers Thomas and Brian, sisters Katie and Ellen and grandmothers Nellie Sheehy and Mary Lynch. He will be buried at St Brendan's Cemetery following Requiem Mass at St Mary's Church in Dingle. Courtesy of the Kerryman June 2003 Tweet

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