At first, her death at her home in Killure, Co Kilkenny, seemed suspicious. Then several definitive reports suggested that it had been a tragic accident, and that Ciara . . . who got 10 'A' grades in her Junior Cert last June . . . had drowned while taking a bath. A day later, the death had been upgraded to "suspicious", and unfounded and untrue rumours flew around that Ciara had been both anorexic and depressed. This weekend, all gardai will say is that they have not ruled out an accident nor the possibility of suspicious circumstances. It is believed that Ciara may have suffered head injuries and the results of toxicology tests are awaited. Until they speak with Ciara's mother Lynn, currently a patient at St Patrick's Hospital in Dublin, they can't advance their investigation any further.

Gardai from the technical bureau sealed off the Gibbs family home for forensic and technical examination for most of last week. Outside, locals remained baffled as to what happened within the confines of the gated house between Saturday evening and Sunday morning last.

A neighbour of the Gibbs family, who lives among a small cluster of houses on a back road between the villages of Gowran, Goresbridge and Paulstown, told the Sunday Tribune: "We are all shocked that this happened so close to our own doorsteps. The Gibbs have been living in that house for the past few years but none of the neighbours really know them that well. They have always been friendly when you meet them on the road and they would always salute you. They seemed to keep to themselves and appear to have liked this quiet area. We do not know what happened to Ciara apart from what we have been reading in the newspapers and seen on the television. Whatever the cause of her death was, it is terrible that such a young person has died."

None of the business people visited by the Sunday Tribune in Gowran, Paulstown and Goresbridge knew the Gibbs family well enough to call them intimates, although anyone who was familiar with them said they were a "quiet, almost reclusive family" who were very courteous and friendly to all who met them.

Staff and students at Loreto College in Kilkenny, where Ciara was a transition-year pupil, are deeply shocked at the news of her death. In a statement to the Sunday Tribune, principal Helen Renehan said: "At this difficult time we are deeply saddened at the loss of Ciara, a beautiful, talented young girl. On behalf of the board of management, staff and students we offer our deepest sympathy to her family relatives and friends.

"We are at present trying to come to terms with our shock and grief at the loss of Ciara. Our immediate focus is to support the school community, students, staff and families. Within the school community, we are attempting to keep the normal school day going as far as is possible, while at the same time giving as much support as we can to those who are grieving deeply."

The National Educational Psychological Service is also working with staff at the school to lend their support to Ciara's grieving friends.

It is understood that Ciara and her mother, Dr Lynn Hutchinson, a locum psychiatrist in the Carlow/Kilkenny area, travelled to Dublin last Saturday week so that Ciara could take part in trials for the International Mathematics Olympics which take place in Vietnam next July.

The highly intelligent teenager was selected along with other top-performing students nationwide to try out to represent Ireland in the competition. Afterwards, they shopped for Christmas presents before returning to their large twostorey home in Kilkenny.

What happened after that is unclear, but the known facts are these: Gerard Gibbs, an esteemed avionics lecturer at Carlow Institute of Technology, and his 14-year-old son Gearoid were in the Gibbs' hometown of Clonmel last weekend visiting relatives and discovered Ciara lying lifeless on the floor when they returned home on Sunday morning.

The girl's mother was found unconscious a short distance away on a bed and both were covered in water. Gerard Gibbs tried to revive his daughter, but it was too late. As he desperately attempted to resuscitate Ciara, his son ran out on to the road and stopped a car driven by a local man on his way to 10am mass in Goresbridge.

The man rushed to the house with the teenager and rang a local pharmacist, who quickly arrived at the scene. But it was too late to revive Ciara.

Ciara's mother, Dr Hutchinson, was drifting in and out of consciousness and was taken by ambulance to St Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny. She was kept there until Wednesday before being transferred to St Patrick's Hospital in Dublin, where she remains. It could be some days before she is fit to be interviewed by gardai.

Investigating gardai believe Dr Hutchinson was the only other person in the family home when Ciara died and they hope she will be able to shed some light on the teenager's mysterious death.

Superintendent Aiden Roche of Thomastown, who is leading the investigation into Ciara's death, said he was "in daily contact with the medical authorities" who will let him know when Dr Hutchinson is well enough to be interviewed.

While gardai believe Ciara drowned in the bath at the family home, they hope her mother will be able to supply vital information about her daughter's death.

Gardai started to treat Ciara's death as "suspicious" from Tuesday onwards. They are now keeping an open mind on the mysterious death and have not ruled out foul play. They are awaiting the results of toxicology tests on Ciara which will reveal if she ingested anything that may have contributed to her drowning.

The state pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy, carried out a post-mortem on Ciara's body on Monday, but gardai have so far declined to release the results for "operational reasons".

A businessman in Paulstown told the Sunday Tribune this weekend: "As they were such quiet people and new to the area in the last few years, nobody knew them that well. There are a lot of theories going around about what happened to Ciara, but it is just gossip and everyone is better to wait and see what the gardai find out before they go jumping to conclusions."

It is understood the Gibbs family lived in Kilkenny city before moving to a quiet country road outside Goresbridge in the last five years.

Fr Larry Malone, parish priest of PaulstownGoresbridge, attended the scene on Sunday morning and he helped to comfort the family from then until last night's removal service in Kilcash, Co Tipperary.

"I knew the family through school and their kids. Young Gearoid was in the national school (Paulstown) before going onto Knockbeg college last year. I knew them as a very quiet couple who looked after their children very well. They are a very loving family as I know them, " Fr Malone told the Sunday Tribune.

He questioned whether it was fair for the media to pick over the details of how the teenage girl met her death before the family had time to deal with her burial.

"It isn't my place to say any more about the family. I'm sure they would not want that. It is a terrible tragedy and I think maybe we should wait until the funeral is over before we start picking through events."

Ciara Gibbs' remains were last night brought to her parents' parish near Clonmel, in their native Tipperary, where she is to be buried today at noon. It is not expected that Lynn Hutchinson will be well enough to attend the funeral.