Funeral of Ray Prendiville in Curraha this weekend

Funeral arrangements have been put in place for Ray Prendiville, the Curraha man shot dead in an armed raid in Namibia last Friday week.

The former Kerry footballer and garda's remains are expected home on Friday, and he will repose at his residence at Sutherland, Ratoath, on Friday evening from 8pm to 10pm. Removal is on Saturday morning, leaving residence at 11.30 am to St Andrew's Church, Curraha for Requiem Mass at 12 noon. Burial takes place  immediately afterwards to Curraha cemetery. 

Mr Prendiville was killed in a gun attack in Namibia, where he was visiting a business colleague. Originally from Scartaglen, Co Kerry, Mr Prendiville’s parents moved to Sutherland around 1969, where his brother, Tom, still runs the family farm. It is a closely-knit area off the Curraha-Ratoath road, with many other members of the Prendiville family living around the home farm.
Deceased, a father of five, was a former garda, based in Tramore and Dublin during his career. He became involved in various business interests, including security, since his retirement from the force.
Mr Prendiville won a Munster Championship medal playing with Kerry in 1975. At Croke Park prior to the Dublin-Kerry All Ireland SFC semi-final on Sunday, he was among those remembered in a minute’s silence.
He was shot dead on Friday, just five days after entering Namibia, a deputy police commissioner is reported to have said. It is understood that a group of men, two wearing camouflage uniforms, burst into an apartment in the tourist resort area of Walvis Bay, a town with a population of around 85,000. His business partner survived the incident at his flat on Hage Geingob Street.
A police spokesperson said that nothing has stolen, and that the case was ongoing. Five employees of the logistics company co-owned by Mr Prendiville, SMF Investments, were brought in for questioning by police, but were later released. This week, the family is still waiting on news on when it can repatriate the remains of Mr Prendiville to his home country.
Ray Prendiville played a major part in Curraha’s annexing of the 1976 Meath Junior football championship, when they defeated Nobber 1-10 to 3-1. In a preview to the game, the Meath Chronicle reported that ‘Curraha has a fair share of experienced performers, notably the former Dublin county man, Shay Donnelly, and Ray Prendiville, who has assisted Kerry in the senior and under-21 grades over the past couple of years.’
It continued: ‘Prendiville, in his first season with the Meath club, has been proving his worth on the full forward line’. In the quarter final against Bohermeen-Martry Harps, he and Sean Galway had been ‘especially brilliant in the winners’ attack. And he didn’t let down in the final, giving Curraha the lead in the fifth minute with a point. He went on to make a number of appearances for Meath in the National Football League, and continued to play for Curraha for a number more years in the late 1970s.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Sunday Game show before the All-Ireland semi final on Sunday, former Kerry footballer Pat Spillane paid tribute to Ray Prendiville, saying he was a sub on the team for the 1975 All-Ireland.
Deceased also played for club side Scartaglin and with the Garda team in the Dublin county championship. He scored a goal for ‘The Kingdom’ in his only championship outing, against Tipperary, and was on the bench for the final, a month later, when Kerry beat Dublin. He was one of the members of the 1975 team honoured in The Irish Nationwide Jubilee Team on All Ireland day in 2000.
Mr Prendiville is survived by his daughters, Claire, Ann and Mary, sons, Sean and Raymond, brothers, sisters, extended family, relatives, neighbours and friends. His nephew, Sean, currently plays with Curraha. Chairman of Curraha GAA, Sean Joyce, expressed the sympathy of the club to the family. 

Local county councillor, Nick Killian, this week also expressed condolences with the family, whom he said were long established and popular in the area, and described Mr Prendiville’s death as a “terrible tragedy”.

The family has requested the house be private on Saturday morning.