We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid after three members of the same family died yesterday after the car they were in collided with a truck in Mayo.
The tragic incident happened on the N17 Galway to Sligo Road at Lisduff at around 12.30pm.
The three victims have been named locally as Marcella Wilson, in her 40s, her seven-year-old son Seán, and her mother Mary Ann, in her 70s.
It is understood that the family were travelling to Galway. They only decided to drive because they had missed a bus at Castlebar.
The driver of the truck wasn’t injured.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland, Father Kevin Hegarty said the Wilsons were a “well-liked and well-respected family in the community”.
“I want to begin by offering my sympathy, my deepest sympathy to Mary Ann’s husband and to Marcella’s other children Kelly, Amy and Anthony, and to such the wider Wilson family,” Father Hegarty said.
Yesterday afternoon was absolutely devastating here. Earlier in the day, in this football-obsessed county, all the talk was of Mayo in the All-Ireland final next week.
Suddenly, all that stopped. A kind of numbness, a kind of silence descended on the community.
Marcella cared for her four children on her own and was helped by her parents.
Fr Hegarty, who was one of Marcella’s teachers at when she was at school, said that she was “very friendly, very cooperative and very courteous”.
He said that it has been a very difficult year for the community of Mayo as Rescue 116 went down off the west coast with four crew members onboard last March.
“Just six months ago, four people in the 116 helicopter died off the peninsula here, so in many ways, tragic deaths have stalked the community here for the past few months,” he said.
“The community here got a great reputation during the aftermath of the tragic 116 crash because of the concern that they showed for the families of the victims.
“It’s a close-knit community, we all know each other and we all gather to be with people who are in any kind of distress.
All of us in the community want to offer the Wilson family our deepest sympathy. We’re well aware that our words are gestures that can’t meet the reality of the anguish that they’re facing, but we do want them to know that we care.
The Mayo crash was just one of two tragic incidents on Irish roads yesterday.
In Cork, two people died in a traffic collision on a dual carriageway.
The fatal three-vehicle crash happened on the N20 Cork to Mallow Road at the Waterloo Junction at around 11am.
A man and a woman in their 60s were pronounced dead at the scene after the car that they were passengers in was involved in a collision with a truck.
The driver of the car and the third passenger (a man and a woman who were also in their 60s) were taken to Cork University Hospital with injuries described as not life-threatening.
The driver of the second car involved was taken to Cork University Hospital with injuries described as not life-threatening. The driver of the truck was uninjured.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Some tragedy. May they rest in peace. There is nothing one could say right now to console the families, so I just send them my compassion and hope they can find the strength to keep going.
@Pheilum Shannon:
So sad and shocking words cannot describe their anguish and sorrow My thoughts and prayers for family /friends . RIP.
RIP . Unbearable pain.
Just this year the Cork/Limerick Chambers of Commerce released a joint report that estimated construction of the M20 would prevent 118 accidents per year on the N20. Sadly a number of these are fatal every year. It’s a deathtrap of a road with many dangerous junctions.
How long more before our politicians wake up and make some key capital infrastructure investments rather than talking in platitudes?
@Aidan Frost: its easy to put stats together to make a case for something. I agree an M20
Is needed but a chamber of commerce have alternative interests rather than basing it on accidents.
This is horrible. Condolence to the family.
May they rest in peace. Xx
We spend all this money on all these health and safety authorities but most of our national primary road still contribute to road accidents and fatalities due to their design and construction.
R.I.P
have your say