I was shocked and upset when I was told that two brothers had been brutally killed in Castlebar.

I realised one of them was the man I often saw walking around Castlebar, seemingly in his own world. I later learned his name was Jack Blaine and his brother was Tom Blaine.

The Winter of 2010 was really freezing with temperatures of -17° C. Just before that Christmas, I was walking up Main St. in Castlebar when I noticed Jack looking in a shop window, as around him people rushed about getting ready for Christmas. Jack was shuffling along, no hurry on him as usual and the contrast between the two caught my eye.

It appeared at the time that Jack went around mainly unnoticed, on the periphery of Castlebar life but the brothers' tragic deaths have shown how well known Jack was and how well liked and respected both brothers were.

Jack will be missed around the town and these photographs are in his honour.