West Cork mourns as two men who died after car plunged into river named locally

A local Garda on duty at Glengarriff, West Cork at the start of the Kenmare road near where a car entered the water in the early hours of Monday morning and two men died. Picture Dan Linehan

Two men from West Cork have died and a third man is in a critical condition in hospital after the car they were travelling in left the road and plunged into a river.

The deceased have been named locally as Tadhg Murphy, aged 19, from Glengarriff, and Michael Bowen, aged 40, from Ahakista.

Mr Murphy is understood to have been driving the car while Mr Bowen was a rear seat passenger.

A fourth occupant of the car managed to escape with minor injuries as a result of the accident which happened near the village of Glengarriff early yesterday morning.

The emergency services were alerted about the accident at 5.30am.

It happened on a bend on the road close to the popular Glengarriff nature reserve, a short distance outside the village on the main N71 which leads to Kenmare, Co Kerry.

Superintendent Declan O'Sullivan, who is leading the investigation, said the four men had been travelling in a black Volkswagen Jetta, which had a 08 KY registration.

He said investigating gardaí are trying to establish the whereabouts of the car and its occupants in the hours leading up to the tragic accident which occurred about a mile outside the village.

 

Supt O'Sullivan said gardaí are anxious to hear from anybody who can shed light on its movements, or who may have actually witnessed the fatal accident.

The critically injured man was taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital. He is understood to be in his late teens and from Glengarriff.

Supt O'Sullivan said gardaí have spoken briefly to the man who sustained minor injuries. He is in his early 20s and also from Glengarriff.

It is understood weather conditions were good at the time of the crash.

It brings the number of people killed on Irish roads so far this year to 87.

Local Independent councillor Danny Collins said the area has been thrown into shock by the tragic news.

He described both deceased men as “very popular, hard-working lads” and expressed his sympathies to their families.

Gardaí closed off the road to allow Forensic Collision Investigators carry out an examination of the area.

The road remained closed for many hours and diversions were put in place via the Healy Pass.

The car was later removed from the scene and will be examined more thoroughly by garda investigators.

Supt O'Sullivan said that gardaí are anxious to speak to anybody who might have seen the vehicle before the crash and are appealing for motorists who may have dash cam footage of it to contact them.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Bantry Garda Station on 027 20860, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station.