Communities and families in Galway and Athlone are in a state of shock and mourning, following two separate fatal road traffic collisions, which have claimed the lives of a mother and her two daughters, and a 34-year-old pregnant woman.
The as-of-yet unnamed mother and her two daughters, who are believed to be from the Moycullen area, were fatally injured after the car they were travelling in collided with an articulated lorry on the Galway to Sligo N17 road outside Claremorris, Co Mayo.
The accident occurred shortly before 2pm on Tuesday, March 26, and Gardaí and emergency services attended the scene. The bodies of the driver, a woman in her 30s, a teenage girl, and a girl under the age of 10, were removed from the scene, and were taken to Mayo University Hospital in Castlebar, where post-mortem examinations were carried out.
The accident occurred when the car driven by the woman collided with the articulated lorry. A van travelling on the route at the same time narrowly avoided impact with the two vehicles. The drivers of the van and lorry were both treated for shock at the scene, but were described as being ‘uninjured’.
Gardaí subsequently closed the area of the road, and carried out an initial forensic investigation and technical examination of the site.
The tragedy of the situation was further compounded as Gardaí struggled to contact close relatives believed to have been working overseas.
For many in the area, Tuesday’s collision serves as a stark reminder of a previous crash on the same route, which claimed the lives of three generations from one family. On September 11, 2017, 67-year-old Mary Ann Wilson, her daughter, 39-year-old Majella, and her six-year-old son, Sean, died when the car they were travelling in collided with a truck on the same stretch of road.
Michael Loftus, Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, said to the Irish Mirror, “It’s really horrific. This is the second crash in the space of a week on that stretch of road. This is also the second fatality of three people in one go.
“The last one was in 2018, where three people (from Belmullet ) lost their lives. To see it happen again today is just so sad for the families and everyone involved, from the people in the rescue services to the guards having to deal with this. It really is upsetting for everyone.”
The number of victims losing their lives on Irish roads continues to increase, accounting for nearly 50 deaths, a figure that breaks down to one death every 48 hours in 2024. One of these figures has been named as 34-year-old Irene Lynch from Athlone who died in hospital
Ms Lynch was a front-seat passenger in a car that collided with a wall, and subsequently entered the water in Menlo, on Friday, March 15. The incident occurred shortly before 7am, and Ms Lynch was taken to University Hospital in Galway in a critical condition. The driver of the car, a man in his 40s, was also taken to hospital. Ms Lynch never recovered, and died of her injuries earlier this week.
Ms Lynch’s sister, Marcella Romaine Lynch paid tribute to her sister saying, “10 days we watched you lie there, praying for you to be okay. But unfortunately God had other plans for you and your little baby, my niece or nephew.
“If love and tears could have brought you back to us, you would have come back ‘cause you have a family that loved you so much.”
