Mystery surrounds the cause of the road accident which claimed the lives of three women pedestrians in Co Laois yesterday.
The women - a mother, her daughter and sister-in-law - were walking on the main Dublin to Kilkenny road between Athy and Castlecomer when the accident happened.
They were hit by a car which gardai believe was travelling towards Athy at 11.55 a.m. The driver of the car, local teenager Mr Michael McDonald, was critical in Dublin's Beaumont Hospital last night.
The dead women were named as Mrs Josephine Kelly (41), of Sarnans, Wolfhill, Ballylinan, Co Laois; her daughter, Lisa (19), and her English-born sister-in-law, Mrs Sandra Kelly (38), of Ballylehane Upper, Wolfhill. Mrs Josephine Kelly, a mother of five, was married to a local builder, Mr Sammy Kelly, and the family were well known and popular in the area.
Lisa was a student at Carlow Institute of Technology. Sandra had moved back from England with her husband and four children just eight months ago.
Sandra's husband, Pat, is a brother of Mr Sammy Kelly and is also involved in the building trade. They planned to move into a new house soon.
The tragedy has left a cloud over the area, according to Father Tommie O'Shea, parish priest of Arles, of which Ballylinan is part. He said the Kellys were lovely people.
Josephine had grown up in the area and was very active in the community. She enjoyed keeping fit. "She walked nearly every day with friends. It was a lovely morning. You would imagine it would be safe to be out," he said. He added that Lisa attended Arles national school, where he remembered her as a lovely girl who was very involved in games and was very popular with the other pupils.
"The whole community is shocked to the core at such a tragic accident, with three people killed in one morning," he said. "People are meeting in little groups and chatting about it. They really feel for the families and wish there was something they could do."
Ms Mary O'Neill, who works at Knowles Bar and grocery shop near the scene of the accident, said everyone was shocked and horrified.
The accident happened at Farnans, on a stretch of road which had already claimed lives. "The whole area is devastated," she added.
Ms Roisin Jones, of the Rushes Inn, a short distance from where the women died, said there were accidents on the road regularly. A jeep had overturned outside her public house at 6.30 a.m. yesterday.
"This is a stretch of road which is very dangerous and needs seeing to. It's lethal. They have just resurfaced it and people are sliding off it," she said.
Garda Supt John Coleman, who is heading the investigation into the accident, said it was too early to speculate on possible causes.
"It is still under investigation and we cannot say what happened or didn't happen at this point in time.
"It was a most horrific accident and it was very distressing to see three women in various locations around the side of the road," he said.
The superintendent stressed that the public had been very helpful in coming forward with information. However, he appealed for more witnesses who travelled the route between 11 a.m. and noon to contact gardai on 0502 31202. There were several other fatal road accidents over the weekend.
Yesterday, a man died when the car in which he was travelling hit a wall on the Sallins Road, Naas, Co Kildare, at 3.05 a.m. He was travelling from Naas to Sallins when the accident happened. His name will not be released by the Garda until relatives have been informed.
A woman died on Sunday when the car in which she was a front-seat passenger collided with another car at Carn, Mount Mellick, Co Laois, at 7.50 p.m. She was Mrs Breda Dunne (61), of Mountmellick.
In Co Kerry, Mrs Mary O'Sullivan (75) was killed when she was struck by a car near her home at Lispole. The accident happened at 11 p.m. on Sunday.
A man who was killed at Hackballscross, Co Louth, at 12.15 p.m. on Saturday when the car he was driving crashed at a bend and hit a ditch was named as Mr Darren Toner, of Charlemont Square, North Bessbrook, Co Armagh.