Devoted mother-of-six killed in crash

SUSAN MAHER’S wish was that her four year-old son, Bobby, might join her husband, Michael, and their five other children for carols at their home this Christmas Eve.

But today, the distraught family is instead selecting hymns for Susan’s funeral Mass. Susan, 41, lost control of the family car late on Monday night and died in the subsequent crash. Miraculously, little Bobby, survived.

They were returning, as they did nightly, from Dublin to Kilkenny. Susan and Bobby had endured the five-hour round trip, five days a week, for more than a year, so that Bobby could get speech therapy in Dublin. They couldn’t get the help they needed at home in Kilkenny and were forced to get up at 4.30am every week day. They wouldn’t get back home until after 9pm. For the mother-of-six, and Bobby, it was a gruelling schedule.