Two teen girls die in separate road accidents

THE bank holiday weekend ended in tragedy for two families who each lost their only daughter in separate road traffic accidents.

In Co Cork, 18-year-old Kate Fleming died on her way home after ploughing into the gable wall of a house when she lost control of her vehicle.

Meanwhile, a Halloween trip to Galway to visit a former schoolmate ended in tragedy for Claire Prendergast, aged 17, from Co Tipperary.

The Leaving Certificate student, from Dangan, Golden, was killed and two of her friends, both aged 19, were seriously injured when the car in which they were travelling collided with another vehicle outside Portumna, Co Galway, shortly before 11.30am yesterday. Ms Prendergast is survived by parents Chris and Dick and a younger brother.

Ms Fleming had just started studying law and psychology at the University of Limerick. She was on her way home after dropping off a friend when the accident happened at 5am yesterday.

Garda investigators are trying to determine how she lost control of her Toyota Landcruiser at a bend on the Clonakilty-Dunmanway road.

She was the only occupant of the jeep and no other vehicle was involved.

Ms Fleming was the child of Peter and Kathleen Fleming from Barryshall, Timoleague, and had a 14-year-old brother, Bill.

Her father trains the Argideen Rangers under-14 hurling team, who were due to play a county final yesterday. It was cancelled as a mark of respect.

Edward McSweeney, a friend of the family and PRO of the GAA club, described Ms Fleming’s death as a terrible tragedy.

“She was the apple of her father’s eye,” he said. “They were an incredibly close family.”

Ms Prendergast was a student at Cashel Community School. The four occupants of the other car involved in the collision included three generations of one family — a father, 71, his son, 38, and two grandchildren, 1 and 5.

All four were taken to Portiuncla Hospital. Their injuries are not thought to be serious, but one of Ms Prendergast’s passengers was last night transferred to the Mater Hospital in Dublin, where she was described as “seriously ill”.