The couple who died alongside their three-year-old grandson in a horror crash in Tipperary last night have been named locally.
Tom O’Reilly, his wife Bridget and their grandson Tom died after the car they were travelling in hit a wall in Windmill Knockbulloge outside Cashel shortly after 9pm last night.
A man and a woman in their 20s who were in the front seats of the car are being treated for serious injuries at Tipperary University Hospital today.
Tributes have begun to pour in from friends and relatives of the well-known local family on social media – with the Cashel community described as being ‘numb’ with shock following the tragedy.
These women live nearby and saw the emergency services rush to the scene last night.
The scene of the crash in Cashel, Tipperary. Image: Sheila Naughton/Newstalk“It is really, really sad – the second crash in Tipperary,” said one. “I just feel really awful for everyone involved.”
Meanwhile, Cathaoirleach for Cashel Declan Burgess said the local church will be open to everyone who needs support in the coming days.
“I’ve spoken to the parish priest and the pastoral team will be available to the community,” he said.
“We are opening up the church to the public today to pop in if they like just to say a prayer or just to be together.
“We need to look after each other in this awful tragedy.”
"The town of Cashel is in a state of shock at the moment." Cathaoirleach of Cashel, Cllr. Declan Burgess on the second serious road crash to affect Tipperary within a week.
📷: @SheilaNaughton1 pic.twitter.com/bPCedHpAu1
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) August 30, 2023
He said people in Tipperary are in a “state of shock” with the tragedy coming so soon after four people died in a crash near Clonmel last week.
“'Not again' is the phrase that was continuously used,” he said.
“What happened in Clonmel hit the whole country not just Tipperary, it was an awful situation, young people like that and then to have a scenario where families are affected now by fatalities on the road yet again, it is just quite alarming, quite frustrating, quite upsetting.
“We are feeling it at the moment and it is going to take time to heal.”
Forensic examinations are ongoing at the scene and the road remains closed this afternoon.
Garda are continuing to appeal for witnesses and are particularly interested in speaking to anyone who was in the area between 8:30pm and 9:15pm and may have camera footage.
Reporting from Sheila Naughton in Cashel.
