Tributes have been paid to a talented young Antrim GAA player who was killed in London at the weekend.
Connor Marron, 19, from Ahoghill, Co Antrim, died in the early hours of Sunday 2 January at Hornsey station.
He was struck by a train.
The university student is believed to have travelled to London with friends to attend the PDC World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace.
Mr Marron was from a well-known GAA family and his father Fergal, originally from Bellaghy parish in Co Derry, was a former chairman, manager and coach at the Roger Casements club in Portglenone.
The teenager had represented Roger Casements GAC in Portglenone and had been tipped to play senior football. He played for his club’s under 20 team last year and had broken into the senior reserve squad.
In 2016 he captained the Sean Stinsons team that represented Antrim in the GAAs Og Sport competition in Co Donegal that year.
He was also a gifted snooker player and was crowned the Northern Ireland under 16 snooker champion at the age of just 12 almost a decade ago.
A former pupil at St Louis Grammar School in Ballymena, he was a second year student at Ulster University.
In a post on Facebook, Roger Casements said: “This morning we received the devastating news of the death of one of our young footballers, Connor Marron.
“Connor represented Sean Stinsons and Casements at underage level and enjoyed great success as a player and team captain through the juvenile ranks.
“In 2015 he captained the Sean Stinson’s Og Sport team, which competed in the All-Ireland Series in Donegal.
“Last year he made his debut for Casements senior reserves and would have no doubt gone on to play at senior level.
“Son of former chairman Fergal, Connor was often found at O’Cahan Park alongside his father, friends and teammates.
“Along with football, snooker was Connor’s other passion. He excelled at this, winning numerous tournaments including the U16 Northern Ireland Snooker Championship at age 12
“We offer our sincerest condolences to Connor’s parents Fergal and Sharon, his little sister Caoimhe and the entire Marron and Doherty families.”
The incident occurred at 12.53am between Alexandra Palace and Finsbury Park stations in north London.
A PSNI spokesperson said: “Police were informed by British Transport Police of the death of a 19-year-old man in London and acted to inform the deceased’s next of kin who were resident in Northern Ireland.”
Great Northern Rail tweeted at 12.55am: “It is with great sadness that we report a person has been hit by a train between Alexandra Palace and Finsbury Park.”
Connor was described as the beloved son of Fergal and Sharon, much loved brother of Caoimhe, and loving grandson of Bernie and Margaret
It is believed that the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust will be involved in bringing him home.
