Black week on Kerry’s roads

A KILFLYNN man was fighting for his life in Dublin’s Mater Hospital on Tuesday following a car crash in the village on Monday night. The accident happened just days after his neighbour, Carmel Carmody (pictured below), died from injuries she sustained in a separate crash in Duagh on Saturday.

The family of the Kilflynn man – who is in his 70s and whose name had not been released at the time of going to press – rushed to his hospital bedside in Dublin following the crash, which occurred on the Abbeydorney-Kilflynn road on Monday. He was a passenger in the car driven by a relative in his 40s who suffered minor injuries.

Carmel Carmody (67) lost her life after a crash in Duagh on Saturday in which three others were injured, one seriously. She was described by family and friends as a woman of ‘exceptional generosity’.

TRAGIC road victim Carmel Carmody died doing what she lived for – spreading the teachings of the Bible in her capacity as a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ congregation in Listowel.

That fact is being grasped as one small consolation by the members of a religious community who say they have been left absolutely ‘shattered’ by the loss of one of their most-loved.

Ms Carmody died as the result of the injuries she suffered while travelling as a passenger in a car that collided with another car in Foildarrig, Duagh, on Saturday at 12.30pm.

Ms Carmody was rushed to Kerry University Hospital as paramedics frantically struggled to save her life, but tragically died shortly after arrival at the hospital.

The driver of the car in which she was travelling also incurred serious injuries, but is now described as being in a stable condition. Both occupants of the other car – a male and female aged 20 – are also described as stable.

Her older sister Frances told The Kerryman that Ms Carmody’s character was defined by generosity since her earliest years. “You couldn’t give Carmel anything, she lived to give to others always and that was the case all her life, ever since she was a little girl.

“She was always busy, never idle, and lived to help other people. If you asked anything of her she would be there straight away. Carmel was a gentle soul with a great sense of humour who simply loved people.”

Ms Carmody’s close friend and fellow Witness Joe Bunyan said the community in Listowel – where she worshipped – was ‘shattered by her loss’. He described the Ardfert native, who lived in Kilflynn in recent times, as a driving force of the congregation; a woman of boundless generosity, humour and artistic flair who lived to help others.

“We are just shattered by Carmel’s death, utterly heartbroken. This woman was exceptional in her generosity and deeply loved by everyone. She lived what she taught, as a perfect example of Christian living,” Mr Bunyan said.

Since joining the Jehovah’s Witnesses while living in Cork many years ago, Ms Carmody lived to spread the teachings of the Bible - an activity she was engaged in at the time of the tragedy. “She loved to share what she knew of the Bible’s promise of the future, where sickness and death will be no more...this is what she lived for and ultimately what she died doing,” Mr Bunyan said.

Ms Carmody will be waked at the Cuan Mhuire funeral parlour in Ardfert from 12pm - 2pm on Saturday, after which burial will take place in Ardfert Cathedral; with a funeral service to be held on Sunday at the Kingdom Hall, Tralee.

Carmel Carmody