This article is from page 24 of the 2009-12-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 24 JPG
AN EERIE silence descended upon Ennis Coroner’s Court as the horrif- ic details of a car crash that claimed two lives were recalled.
Members of two heartbroken fam- ilies sat in the courtroom at Ennis courthouse as the exact descriptions of the multiple injuries sustained by the two men were outlined. The de- tail was almost unbearable.
Just 20 weeks earlier, Peter Beck- ley and Raymond Stack had sat behind the wheels of their cars for what tragically would be their last ever journeys.
Those trips had began with de- termination, but ended in tears and devastation.
On that fateful July afternoon, Mr Beckley, a native of the UK, was alone in his Volvo car driving towards his home at Tullycrine, while Mr Stack was driving a Ford Mondeo towards his home in Lim- erick city.
His wife Ann and their four-year- old grandson Donnacha were in the or Tua aisemeuneee
The Stacks had been on holidays in Doonbeg and were en route home when they were involved in the ac- cident which occurred on a straight Stretch of road, but close to a hill- crest.
Those who were quickly on the
scene that afternoon tried to find a pulse on both men but there were none.
At the inquest into the men’s
deaths last Wednesday, County Coroner Isobel O’Dea commended the “bravery” of a young paramedic who arrived on the scene shortly
after the accident and did what she could.
The scene in the immediate af- termath of the crash that afternoon
was dreadful. Members of the vari- ous emergency services entered and exited the sealed-off stretch of road for several hours after the accident.
Several gardai walked away from the scene pale-faced. They were traumatised by what they saw. Gardai took a sensitive approach and covered the badly damaged cars as they were taken from the scene.
The mangled state of both cars would have painted a very grim pic- ture. After all, both families would have to try to come to terms with deeply upsetting news that evening.
Mr Beckley’s wife Bridget would answer her door at around 7pm that evening to see two gardai standing outside. They were there to deliver the message that her husband had been killed in a road accident just a few hours earlier.
Mrs Beckley then went to Limer- ick Regional Hospital, where she identified her husband’s body.
It’s the knock on the door that no- body wants to have to answer and the haunting words of those deliver- ing the devastating news are never likely to be banished from memory.