Niece of Donegal GAA legend dies in freak accident
Young nurse killed when tree fell on taxi in Australia
A DONEGAL community has been plunged into grief at the death of a young nurse from a well-known family in a tragic accident in Australia.
Mary Ellen Molloy, 26 was killed when a tree fell on an Uber taxi she was travelling in with two Irish friends on Friday.
A niece of Fianna Fáil Councillor Anthony Molloy who lead Donegal to the county’s first All-Ireland win in 1992, Ms Molloy, from Ardara, had been working as a staff nurse in the Royal Melbourne Hospital for the past 18 months.
The Molloy family are very well known in GAA and business circles in Ardara and surrounding areas. Her parents Terence and Angela own the Blue Haven Hotel in the Gaeltacht village of Kilcar. And Mary Ellen returned home frequently to visit them and her brothers John Ross and Karl Joseph.
A friend of Ms Molloy said ‘she had a wonderful personality who could light up a room with her smile. She was lovely inside and out and this a terrible blow to her family at this time of the year’.
Ms Molloy was travelling with friends Sarah Fitzpatrick, from Emo, Co. Laois, and Aoife Sheridan, from Tullyraine, Co. Monaghan.
Ms Fitzpatrick suffered head and back injuries and needs surgery. Ms Sheridan was not injured in the freak accident which happened on the way home from a night out.
In a tribute posted to Mary Ellen,
Ardara CLG said: ‘Mary Ellen was a beautiful girl with a permanent smile who lit up every room she walked into. Her love for her family was always so evident whenever they were together, and we can only imagine the grief that Terence, Angela, John Ross, Karl Joseph and the Molloy and Gillespie families are feeling at this time.
‘As a community we have lost yet another shining light. We will do whatever we can to assist them at this terrible time.’
Donegal TD and Leas-Cheann Comhairle Pat ‘the Cope’ Gallagher expressed his sympathy on the death of Mary Ellen, a past pupil of Glenties Comprehensive School.
Mr Gallagher, a friend of the Molloy family, said: ‘When news broke last evening of her passing, a deep sense of shock and numbness descended over Donegal. I have known the Molloy family for many years and I know the pain and sadness they are suffering at this very sad time.’
St Kevin’s GAA club in Melbourne has set up an online fundraiser to help their families.
The page’s organiser, Mary Grehan wrote: ‘Three of our members were in an accident in Melbourne and tragically Mary Ellen Molloy lost her life and Sarah Fitzpatrick has been injured and requires surgery. Fortunately, Aoife Sheridan was not harmed.’
The club is setting up a GoFundMe appeal ‘to assist the families in this heartbreaking time. The funds will go towards supporting the families and to help alleviate the financial pressure.’ The appeal has alreday exceeded its target of €20,000.
‘Mary Ellen lit up every room she walked into’