Accidental death verdicts at inquest into Clonmel crash

An inquest into the deaths of four young adults in a fatal crash in Clonmel last August has recorded verdicts of accidental death.

The four people died as a result of severe cranio-cerebral trauma from being involved in a road traffic collision on the evening of 25 August at Hillview, Clonmel.

There was a torrential downpour of rain before the incident, which happened just after 7.30pm, with a lot of water on the road.

The crash happened hours after three of the victims had received their Leaving Cert results.

Eighteen-year-olds Grace McSweeney, Nicole Murphy and Zoey Coffey all lost their lives in the collision, as did Grace McSweeney’s 24-year-old brother Luke McSweeney, who was driving the car which crashed.

Witnesses to the car being driven before the crash said they did not notice any excessive speed on the part of the driver although the two back tyres of the car, a grey 151 BMW coupe, had tread depths below the legal limit of 1.6mm.

The victims were on their way to meet friends in the town with the intention of travelling on to a Leaving Cert results celebration in Carlow that night.

The coroner, Joseph Kelly, said in summing up the evidence that the road was “very much like a flowing river” at the time of the collision, because of the “torrents” which had fallen on a “steep hill”.

There were no eyewitnesses to the actual crash itself although several local residents and passers-by had seen the car travelling down the hill.

At least two said the car was not going at any particular speed. It was calculated by gardaí that it was being driven at speeds of 51km/h and 75km/h at different points on the hill.

“For some unknown reason, it left the roadway and mounted a kerb and hit a wall, resulting in a horrific and tragic collision.”

The car overturned outside Hillview Sports Club, causing extensive damage to its roof and other parts of the vehicle.

All four of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene and formally identified later at Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel by family members.

The crash caused widespread shock and sadness last year, with large crowds attending a vigil in Clonmel two days later and also the funerals of the four victims the following week.

In a statement read out by their solicitor Padraic Hayes in the coroner’s court, the McSweeney family on behalf of themselves and the other families thanked all of the emergency services as well as the local community and the people of Ireland for their support in the aftermath of the crash.