CLOSE THIS WINDOW TO GO BACK TO MEMORIAL PAGE

RTE News
Man named after Wexford road accident

Tuesday, 31 January 2006

A man who died in an accident outside the village of Oylgate near Enniscorthy in Co Wexford this afternoon has been named.

Patrick Mernagh, 20, from Ross Road, Enniscorthy was killed when the car he was driving collided with a tractor at about 2pm.

A woman and a child were also injured and both are said to be in a serious but stable condition.

'Not seeing my son's face is hardest thing'
Sunday December 31 2006

NIAMH HORAN
"I WAS at home on my own with Patrick's brother when the priest called to the door. He told me there had been an accident, that Patrick was involved and that he had passed away on the road. After that it was all a blur. I started screaming and screaming and told the priest to get out, that it wasn't true, that he must have gotten the wrong house. I just lost the plot."

That is how Mary Mernagh recalls the day her world was ripped apart. The day she got word that her loving son, the talented sports player with the big smile, had been yet another victim on Irish roads.

Patrick Mernagh, 20, was only a short stretch from home last January when the car he was driving collided with a tractor just outside Oylgate near Enniscorthy in Co Wexford.

He was travelling home to Enniscorthy with his girlfriend and his five-month-old son, Dillon, at the time.

Nearly a year later his mother still can't understand how the accident happened.

"I don't know how it happened. I can't understand. There was hardly any traffic on the road that day. If I only knew," she trails off. "He just went over across the road, we don't know what exactly happened and we never really got to the end of it. He just went across the road and into the back of a tractor."

She describes how life has changed since the day she received the tragic news. "I can't explain the feeling, it's so hard. It's every mother's worst nightmare. It's not natural for your child to go first. I'm completely dead since it happened. That's the only way I can describe it.

"Not seeing his face anymore has been the hardest thing. He was such a lovable chap. He was into sports in a big way. Hurling, football, soccer. All his trophies and medals are still in the press. During the last conversation I had with him, we talked about hurling.

"My husband is completely grief stricken too. We have had to go through a lot of 'firsts' this year. It was our first Christmas; that was very difficult. I didn't want to do anything for it this year. I didn't even want to put up a tree. We didn't spend Christmas here at home either. It would have been too difficult.

"And his 21st birthday would have been last June. That was very hard. I just sat at the grave all day. All my family have been brilliant to me but I'm just numb. And it doesn't seem to be getting any easier."

Her loss extends to the thought of her young grandchild who will grow up without his dad. "It will be very hard on Dillon growing up without knowing his father but I still have all Patrick's trophies and his scrapbook and videos to show him."

Mary says Patrick's two brothers are also finding it very tough.

"He was the middle chap. I have a younger and older son, aged 17 and 24. They're in bits since it happened. The three of them were all very close. I had to break the news to my husband and my other son that day. It was very difficult for them because they had to drive all the way back from Dublin after they heard."

Now, week in, week out, Mary sees news reports of the carnage on our roads as more and more names are added to the list and hundreds more families are dealt the same hard blow that she received the day the local priest called to her home.

"I see car crashes on TV all the time and my heart goes out to the families. If I could give any piece of advice to people coming into the New Year I would tell them to be careful on the roads, wear a seat belt and don't speed. I only hope it doesn't happen to any more families over the holidays."

Since this interview, six more people have been killed on Irish roads.

Click here to CLOSE THIS WINDOW and go back to memorial page