ENNIS STUDENT, Sean Shannon has been found dead in Slovenia.
Reports that the teenager had been missing in Bled, Slovenia emerged on Friday when it was circulated by concerned parties that he was travelling alone. His phone, wallet, passport and clothes had been discovered which raised the alarm.
Circumstances into the death of the nineteen year old Clare student are not known at this stage.
A self-taught pianist, Sean became the youngest associate artist with glór in August of last year, first playing the grand piano in the foyer of the Ennis theatre at the age of thirteen. A bright future in the music industry had been predicted for the warm, kind and friendly youngster.
As a young child, he watched ‘Little Einsteins’ which he credited for developing his appreciation of classical music and composers. In 2018, Sean performed for President Michael D. Higgins at ClareCare charity’s 50th anniversary celebration, and at the age of 14 he gave his debut solo recital at glór in 2019. In 2021 he featured on RTÉ’s Nationwide in a report compiled by Ennis native Colm Flynn.
Derek McMahon of glór previously recounted on RTÉ his first time hearing Sean play the piano, “Sean came into us and we were fortunate enough that he did, people came in and played that piano of all ages, young, old but when he plays there is a feeling, we all said ok we have something special here”.
Local pianist Nigel Bridge was left gobsmacked when he heard Sean play for the first time. “The first time we heard him here (glór), I walked in that door and I was convinced it was Pipe’s Music, the jaw dropped and I thought good lord. When I hear him play, I hear direct creative spirit exploding because you can be born with it but you don’t quite know how to use it, he seems to have an instantaneous command of what he is doing”.
A past pupil of Ennis Community College and the Holy Family, he was studying a Bachelor in Music Performance on an entrance scholarship at the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
He is survived by his parents, Cecilia and Frank, siblings and wide circle of friends.
