Families united in grief after work friends die in crash

TWO families were united in grief last night after two friends who worked together died together in a crash minutes after setting off for work.

James (Jimmy) McAuliffe, 39, and Gerard O’Keeffe, 25, both from Newmarket in Co Cork, will be buried tomorrow after funeral masses — one after the other.

Gerard, a talented carpenter, and Jimmy, a devoted father of four were on their way to work on a building site in Charleville early yesterday morning.

Mr O’Keeffe was driving a Subaru Impreza, his girlfriend, Agnes Kenny, 22, was in the back seat, and Mr McAuliffe was sitting in the front passenger seat as they set off along the Newmarket to Kanturk road.

The road, which they knew well, was reopened in August after a big widening and resurfacing upgrade.

But they had travelled less than 2km when tragedy struck at about 7.30am in the townland of Garraunawarrig.

Garda investigations were continuing last night but it is understood the Subaru was attempting to overtake a white van on a relatively straight stretch of road governed by a continuous white line.

The cause of the accident has yet to be established but at some stage, the Subaru became airborne and spun over before landing on its roof.

It slid for several hundred yards, before coming to rest.

Mr O’Keeffe and Mr McAuliffe died instantly.

Ms Kenny miraculously survived.

She was rushed to Cork University Hospital (CUH) where she was in a stable condition last night.

The van driver was treated at the scene for shock.

An Opel Vectra travelling in the opposite direction was also hit. Its driver had to be cut from the wreckage. He was also in a stable condition in CUH last night.

Experienced firefighters who rushed to the scene described it as one of the worst crash sites they had seen for years.

The road was sealed off for several hours as Garda forensic collision investigators tried to piece together the sequence of events which led to the accident.

Mr McAuliffe’s devastated widow, Kathleen, their four young children, John, 19, Maggie, 17, Con, who has just started secondary school, and Jim, 8, and his mother, Peggie, were being comforted by family and friends last night.

Kathleen works as a home help and is highly respected in the community.

Her husband’s removal will take place at 8.30pm tonight from O’Reilly’s Funeral Home in Newmarket to St Mary’s Church.

The remains will be buried tomorrow in Clonfert Cemetery after noon requiem Mass.

Mr O’Keeffe’s parents, Michael and Anne, and his older sister, Marguerite, who has just returned home after a year in Australia, were also being comforted by family and friends.

His removal takes place to St Mary’s Church in Newmarket at 7pm tonight. Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 2.30pm tomorrow with burial afterwards in Clonfert Cemetery.

Local county councillor, Marion Murphy, said the deaths had shocked the tight-knit community.

“The devastation is just awful. There is a sense of total disbelief,” she said.

“It is particularly horrific because we all know the families so well. It’s like one big extended family here, where we all know each other.”

A spokeswoman for the McAuliffe Clan, which is organising a large clan gathering in Newmarket next June, extended her sympathies on behalf of the extended clan to all who had been affected by the accident.

“I knew Mr McAuliffe growing up in Newmarket,” she said.

“He comes from a great family. My heart goes out to them. Our deepest sympathies go out to both families.”

Superintendent Noel Galwey appealed for witnesses to the accident to contact gardaí in Kanturk on the 24-hour phone number 029-20680.