By Damian McCarney
damian.mccarney@meathpost.com
Last week saw much tragedy for Meath with the death of two people on the roads.
Saturday night claimed the life of a 19 year old pedestrian who was
knocked down in Dunshaughlin. While a young man also lost his life
outside Tipperary last Thursday.
The identity of the young teenager has not yet been released though it
is believed he was from Dublin. He was knocked down outside the Vortex
nightclub between midnight and 12.30am on Saturday night. Gardai are
appealing for any witnesses to come forward.
Meanwhile, truck driver, James Gibbons (28) was laid to rest at the
weekend in Offaly. James who was described as a “beautiful young lad”
by his family who are originally from Trim, was fatally injured in an
accident involving three lorries, and a number of parked cars on the
N62, Templemore to Roscrea Road at Ashmere in County Tipperary.
The incident occurred at about 8am, and he died at the scene. The two
other truck drivers were brought to Mid-Western Regional Hospital in
Nenagh.
Although he hailed from New Haggard Lane in Trim, he had made a new
life in Newtown, Rahan, with his wife, Patricia, whom he had married
just last May. Neighbours and friends from Trim joined the large
throng of mourners from Rahan to express their grief and sympathies to
the Gibbons family at Sunday’s funeral in St Carthage’s church.
James was the third eldest of seven children. Although he came from a
farming family, and studied in Warrenstown Agricultural College, where
he met Patricia, he was passionately interested in machinery, making
truck driving a natural career. To reflect James’s love for trucks, a
lorry drove in front of the funeral procession in tribute. His
favourite song, Looking Back by Gareth Brooks was also played during
the moving service. His remains were interred in nearby Rahan
cemetery.
“He was a gentleman, and it was a pleasure to meet him,” his uncle
Patsy Sheridan told the Meath Post. “His family are heart broken and
are just lost for words. He and Patricia were a lovely couple.”
James is survived by his parents Jimmy and Breda Gibbons, five sisters
and one brother.