Latest news with #Frenchpark
BreakingNews.ie
18-07-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Man (40s) seriously injured after single-vehicle collision in Co Roscommon
A man in his 40s has been seriously injured following a single-vehicle collision in Frenchpark, Co Roscommon on Friday morning. The collision happened on the R370 at Lurgan at 6:00 am. Advertisement The driver, a man aged in his 40s, was conveyed to Sligo University Hospital with serious injuries. No other injuries were reported. The road is currently closed for a technical examination by Forensic Collision Investigators and local diversions are in place. Gardaí are appealing for anyone with information regarding this incident to come forward. Any persons who were in the R370 Lurgan area between 5:50am and 6:10am and who may have witnessed the incident should contact investigating gardaí. Any road users who were travelling in this vicinity at the time, and who may have camera footage including dash cam, are asked to make this footage available to investigating Gardaí. Gardaí can be contacted at the Castlerea Garda Station on 094 9621630, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station. Gardaí say investigations are ongoing.
Irish Times
03-07-2025
- Irish Times
Roscommon man died instantly from ‘catastrophic' brain injury in farm incident, inquest told
A Co Roscommon man (50) died instantly from a 'catastrophic' brain injury when the tyre of a farmyard trailer exploded while he was using an arc welder to repair the wheel rim, an inquest was told on Wednesday. Patrick McCrann, who lived at Sheepwalk, Frenchpark, was repairing a wheel on a trailer that was used to bring turf from the bog to his parents' home when the tragedy occurred on July 18th last. An inquest into Mr McCrann's death was conducted on Wednesday afternoon in Ballaghaderreen Courthouse by the coroner for Roscommon, Brian O'Connor. Garda Denise Casserley told the inquest how following a report of a tyre explosion she found the body of the deceased lying in a small shed in a farmyard. READ MORE The force of the explosion had blown a hole in the roof of the shed, Garda Casserley said. Kevin McCrann, a brother of the deceased, in a deposition read to the inquest, explained he was reading a letter in his sittingroom when he heard an explosion. In his deposition, Mr. McCrann continued: 'I didn't panic. I walked down the yard. I saw Pat's van reversed in towards the shed. The back door of the van was open. As I approached the van I knew something was wrong. 'I entered the shed and I saw Pat and I knew he was dead.' Dr Caroline Brodie, consultant pathologist at University College Hospital Galway, said the cause of death was 'catastrophic traumatic injury' and would have been instantaneous. The circumstances of the tragedy were investigated by Kay Baxter, an inspector with the Health and Safety Authority. In her report, which she read to the hearing, Ms Baxter said Mr McCrann had been repairing a wheel rim with a tyre in situ in a shed in the farmyard using an arc welder. 'The air in the tyre expanded with the heat from the weld and the tyre was forced off the wheel rim in an explosive fashion and was propelled through the roof of the shed landing in the concrete yard outside,' Ms Baxter continued. She added: 'The resultant blast and impact with the tyre caused fatal head injuries (to the deceased).' Ms Baxter described Mr McCrann as an experienced tyre fitter who had been in business for more than 30 years. Recording a verdict of accidental death, the coroner said the deceased was well known as an obliging person who went out to assist people and to lose him in such tragic circumstances was very difficult for the family and the local community.
BreakingNews.ie
19-06-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Man (72) who died in Roscommon house fire planned to adapt home for partner
Tributes are being paid to a devoted partner who died in a Roscommon house fire overnight. The man who has been named locally as Des Deegan (72) died in a fire at a house in The Oaks housing estate, Frenchpark, Co Roscommon. Advertisement Emergency services were called to the house in an estate shortly before 7pm on Wednesday evening Locals said that Mr Deegan who was originally from Dublin was a devoted partner to Alice Hetherton (63). The couple had lived at French Park for the past 25 years having met in London and lived in Kerry for a number of years previously. Tragically Ms Hetherton suffered a serious bleed on the brain and an aneurysm in 2023 and as a result was admitted to a nursing home in the area in July 2024. Advertisement Mr Deegan had launched a campaign locally to adapt the house and bring her home and had set up a Go-fundme page in April of this year. Locals say he had spoken on local radio about his campaign on a number of occasions. Speaking at the time he said'' I've started this fundraiser on behalf of my partner Alice Hetherton, formerly of Oldcastle Co Meath. "Alice is 63 years old, she has worked all her life caring for others as a care worker in hospitals and nursing homes across the UK and Ireland. "Ironically Alice finds herself now in need of the support she has given to others''. To date the fundraiser has raised almost €7,000. In a statement gardaí said Fire services extinguished the blaze and the body of a man was recovered. His remains were removed from the scene to University Hospital Galway, where a post-mortem examination will be carried out. The scene remains sealed off for a technical examination. It is unclear what caused the fire, with witnesses reporting an explosion just before the blaze broke out. No funeral arrangements have been made as yet.
Irish Times
19-06-2025
- Irish Times
‘It was the most horrific thing': Man who died in Roscommon explosion planned to adapt house for partner
The man who died in an explosion in Roscommon had planned to adapt the house for his partner who is in a nursing home. The man who was killed in the incident in Frenchpark on Wednesday evening has been named locally as Des Deegan (72), originally from Dublin. He moved into the house approximately a year ago to be close to his partner Alice Hetherton (63), formerly of Oldcastle, Co Meath who is now in a nursing home. It's understood that the couple hoped to retire to Frenchpark, when Alice suffered a bleed on her brain in 2023. Only six weeks ago he set up a GoFundMe to modify the house so his partner could live with him in the house in Frenchpark rather than in a nursing home. The detached house in Frenchpark has now been reduced to a pile of rubble. READ MORE Around it in the Oaks estate are damaged roofs and broken glass. Almost 24 hours after the explosion, the smell of burning debris remains in the air. The home where Des Deegan (72) died was reduced to rubble at the Oaks estate in Frenchpark Residents say the dreadful tragedy could have been so much worse. The explosion happened at 7.10pm when children would usually be out playing in the green in front of the house. The children who were out playing had left the area 10 minutes previously. The explosion was so violent that it blew the window sills from Mr Deegan's home all the way across the green and it hit the front windows of the house 50 metres away. Sinéad Doran was getting her two children ready for bed when she heard the explosion. Looking at the broken glass which peppered her driveway, she said: 'There was definitely a guardian angel looking after our family. It was the most horrific thing I ever witnessed in my whole life. 'It is the luck of God that the window did not come in on top of us. We thought it was our car that exploded. We couldn't hear the bang. We could actually feel it. Our whole house shook.' She said the horror of the explosion was compounded by the realisation that she had just seen Mr Deegan enter the house just minutes before. Her partner Bernard Finlay raced across the road after he heard the explosion and called out if there was anybody there. 'I was thinking of him, but there were people screaming at me to get away. I was thinking of my kids. I needed to move away before things got worse,' he said. It took fire fighters four hours to release the remains of Mr Deegan from the rubble. Parish priest Fr Michael Donnelly said local people are 'numb with shock' about what happened and traumatised about how close the estate came to total catastrophe. 'Why the children weren't there and the sun beating down nobody knows. There was someone looking over them. If the children were there when the house blew up, you are looking at multiple fatalities.' A technical examination of the scene is continuing and investigations are ongoing.
BreakingNews.ie
19-06-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Man found dead following house fire in Co Roscommon
A man has been found dead following an extensive house fire in Co Roscommon. Emergency services were called to the scene in the Oaks housing estate in Frenchpark at about 7:15pm on Wednesday evening, and the blaze was brought under control. Advertisement The body of the man has been removed from the house, and taken to University Hospital Galway for post-mortem exam. The scene remains sealed off on Thursday morning for a technical examination, and gardaí say enquiries are ongoing.
