Grandparents and grandchild killed in Cashel crash to be laid to rest today

Thomas O’Reilly, 45, his wife Bridget, 46, and their grandson Tom died when the car in which they were travelling hit a wall in Cashel last Tuesday

Flowers and a teddy bear left by members of the public near the scene of the crash Cashel, which claimed the lives of Tom Reilly, his wife Bridget Reilly, and their grandson Tommy Reilly. Picture: Sasko Lazarov/ RollingNews.ie

What has been nine days of tragedy on the roads of Tipperary will come to something of a conclusion today when a three-year-old boy and his grandparents are laid to rest in Cashel.

Thomas O’Reilly, 45, his wife Bridget O’Reilly, 46, and their grandson Tom O’Reilly died when the car in which they were travelling hit a wall in the Windmill Knockbulloge area of Cashel last Tuesday.
Tom's parents, both aged 22, were seriously injured in the accident.

Thomas, Bridget, and Tom will be laid to rest after 2pm Mass at the local Saint John the Baptist Church.

At a prayer service for the family on Thursday, Fr Enda Brady, who will officiate at their funeral today, said the family are very well known in the area, and are almost seen as "the elders in the community", which made the community's grief greater.

"We have to remember that Tom and Bridget were the parents of 10 children and some of them are still school-going children," he said. "They need our support, our prayers at this time."

The funeral for the three O'Reillys is the fourth of Tipperary road crash victims to have taken place in as many days. 

Yesterday, Zoey Coffey was laid to rest in Clonmel. She and three other young people, Luke, 24, and Grace McSweeney, 18, and Nicole Murphy (18) all died when the car in which they were travelling overturned and crashed into a wall in the town on August 25. Nicole was buried on Thursday, Luke and Grace on Friday.

The Tipperary crash victims are seven of 25 who lost their lives in August alone. The total for the year now stands at 126, which is 24 more than had been killed over the same period in 2022, and 39 more than in 2019.

The carnage on the roads prompted junior transport minister Jack Chambers to say earlier this week that enforcement could be improved. 

However, on Friday, Superintendent Tom Murphy said gardaí are on the roads round the clock and have detected speeding offences 100,000 times so far this year as well as 5,000 drink and drug driving offences.

“It’s not solely about An Garda Síochána going out and enforcing road traffic legislation,” he said. “People slowing down is a big part as well.”

The senior garda pointed out that the offences being detected on the roads are on par with previous years.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he has spoken to the Garda Commissioner about the need for stronger enforcement of road safety laws.

According to RTÉ, Mr Varadkar told Drew Harris that he is concerned that "we are now going backwards" in terms of road safety and that the recent spike in deaths on our road was "not a blip".

He said the issue would require further focus and attention.

Mr Varadkar said he would write to Justice Minister Helen McEntee and junior minister Jack Chambers and suggest convening a meeting of the ministerial committee on road safety.

The battle to drive down road deaths will also see bars closing an hour earlier at Electric Picnic this evening and the car parks kept open for three hours longer tomorrow to allow revellers to get alcohol out of their system and drive home safely.