Beyond the racks of scones and soda bread at Greenhills Irish Bakery in Dorchester’s Adams Village, around the corner from the home of Aisling Brady McCarthy’s brother, a half dozen Irish immigrants in construction boots expressed relief that she is no longer facing charges in a shaken-baby case.
“I’m thankful she’s free. It’s an awful thing to be accused of,” said John Healy of Quincy, suggesting that authorities should publicly apologize to McCarthy.
The friends around him all nodded, some of them while scrolling smartphones with stories of the news popping up on their Facebook feed; the saga had gripped the region’s Irish-immigrant community.
“I’m just happy she’s out, is all,” said John O’Sullivan of Dorchester, originally from Galway.
Family friend Michael O’Dwyer, an immigrant from Waterford, Ireland, said in a phone interview that Boston’s entire “Irish community is really relieved” by the news that prosecutors had reversed the murder charge in the 2013 death of a Cambridge infant. O’Dwyer said it vindicated all those who were shocked at the original allegations that McCarthy had abused the infant in her care.
“The Brady family is a nice, decent family; they’re very good people,” said O’Dwyer, who used to rent a Dorchester apartment to McCarthy’s brother, Raymond Brady. “I’m not a bit surprised she’s cleared.”
O’Dwyer said he hoped the family could pick up the pieces after McCarthy spent more than 2½ years in prison and under house arrest, with her family scrutinized. He said he could empathize, because his sister was murdered in Ireland a decade ago.
“Any time you deal with a murder case, it’s touchy,” he said. “Once you’re attached to it, it’s a horrible situation. . . . It’s brutal for the family.”
Attempts to reach McCarthy or her local relatives were unsuccessful.
Her former apartment in a Quincy two-family home appeared to be vacant and undergoing renovations.
After a reporter rang the bell at the home of McCarthy’s sister, a gracious colonial in Braintree posted with “No Trespassing” signs, someone pulled the curtain tight behind the oval window of the front door.
Eric Moskowitz can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeMoskowitz.