Kelly Lynch's mother and gardaí appeal for 'direct' information

GARDAÍ will not be drawn on whether they have received any new information in the Kelly Lynch case.

The Celt enquired if there had been any recent updates in the investigation into the death of the 23-year-old after her mother, Julieanne, issued an appeal for people to come forward. Julieanne received reports that someone had allegedly admitted to being present at the time of Kelly’s death in Monaghan Town on March 16, 2024.

A post on the Justice for Kelly Lynch Facebook page makes the fresh appeal for witnesses following information received by the family.

Julieanne Lynch runs the online account.

Kelly Lynch’s body was found in the Ulster Canal near Mullaghmatt on St Patrick’s Day 2024.

She had been in Monaghan Town for a wake and was drinking with others on the night before.

Initially, Kelly’s family were led to believe she wandered off alone and fell from into the canal. But now they want to see a formal murder investigation launched.

An initial postmortem found Kelly died from drowning, while a second report concluded the young woman died from the effects of hypothermia.

This year, the Katie Trust charity arranged a privately-funded forensic report to be carried out, which found Kelly died following a “physical violent assault”.

The third pathologist found Kelly suffered 93 injuries including two inflicted after death.

In October 2024, then-Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, directed a senior investigating officer, external to the Cavan-Monaghan-Louth Division, to conduct a peer review into the initial garda investigation .

An Garda Síochána have repeatedly called for anyone with “direct information” on Kelly’s death to contact them.

They repeated that call this week when contacted by the Celt about Kelly’s mother’s claims and refused to comment on the alleged remarks made by a third party.

“An Garda Síochána does not comment on unsubstantiated third-party remarks,” the Garda statement said.

“The investigation into the death of Ms Kelly Lynch remains open and continues to be carried out by an investigation team based at Monaghan Garda Station.”

An Garda Síochána also gave details of the recommendations from the peer review.

“A number of observations made by the Peer Review Team are already subject of a Fiosrú (the Office of the Police Ombudsman) examination,” the statement continues.

“It is important to clarify that the matters currently under examination by Fiosrú do not concern the cause of death or suggest that the outcome was altered by the matters under investigation.

“An Garda Síochána appeals to anyone with direct information on the death of Ms Lynch to contact Gardaí,” the statement emphasised again.

Appealing to people “young and old” about someone allegedly said they were present at the time of Kelly’s death, Julieanne wrote on the same post: “If what was said was nonsense, reporting it allows it to be examined as such.

“If it was bravado, let investigators establish that. But, if there was even a possibility that the person speaking knew something about how Kelly died or how her body came to be beneath that bridge, ask yourself whether you are really prepared to take the chance that your silence helped that information go nowhere?”