Elderly woman stranded as bogslide cuts off road

A BOGSLIDE blocked a road and left two houses cut off near Killarney, Co Kerry, yesterday.

Father-of-three Con O’Riordan found the narrow road leading to his home at Toormore, Kilcummin, was covered to a depth of one foot as he was driving to work at 7.45am.

His 84-year-old mother, Margaret, was also stranded in her home nearby.

Kerry County Council road workers were called to the scene and will be working again today with a view to having the road repaired and reopened as soon as possible.

“Tonnes of bog gave way about 400 metres upstream from a bridge. The bog then tumbled into the river and flowed down to the bridge before spilling onto the road. The river banks are about 20ft high and the bog was up to the top of the banks in places,” Mr O’Riordan said.

A 12 metre-section on one side of the road was washed away.

Heavy rain during the week may have precipitated the bogslide.

“It seems water had built up behind the bog, like a dam, and pushed everything before it,” Mr O’Riordan said.

None of the O’Riordan family heard any noise during the night, but his mother thought she heard some sounds.

“My mother is under medical care and was very upset,” he said.