A MAN has died in Sneem, Co Kerry, when his car rolled back and trapped him in the early hours as he was trying to push it, gardaí have said.
Jim Fitzgerald (53) was giving a lift home to a neighbour after a night out when his vehicle ran out of diesel about half a mile from Sneem village on the R568 Sneem to Killarney road at about 3am.
Mr Fitzgerald was attempting to make the car safe and push it to the side of the road when it rolled back and trapped him.
His passenger ran to a nearby house to summon help while another local man came on the scene. Emergency services including the fire service, gardaí and medical help were summoned but Mr Fitzgerald was pronounced dead at the scene.
A single man, he had retired in his 40s from the gardaí. He had served in Cork city before returning to his native Sneem, where he ran a small hotel for a period. He was well known in the area.
Mr Fitzgerald was a relative of the founder of MI5 William Melville, the inspiration for the M character in the James Bond series of books by Ian Fleming, who in recent years was discovered to have originated in Sneem.
Supt Michael O’Donovan of Cahirciveen gardaí said Mr Fitzgerald was seeking to secure his car and make the road safe when he became trapped. Garda technical officers examined the scene and the car. Mr Fitzgerald has a number of relatives in the Sneem area. A post-mortem is being carried out.
Meanwhile, a teenager who attended his school graduation ball just last week was killed and four of his friends were injured in a crash at Spur Hill in Cork city on Saturday night.
The five youths were travelling in a car which crashed at Spur Hill in Togher at 9.15pm. All five occupants of the car were taken to Cork University Hospital, where the driver, named locally as Brian Finn from Spur Hill, was later pronounced dead.
The cause of the single-vehicle collision is under investigation. The scene of the crash was being forensically examined yesterday.
Brian Finn (18) received his Leaving Certificate results this summer and was a former student of Coláiste an Chriost Rí in the city. He attended his graduation ball last Wednesday at Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork.
He recently started a course in mechanical engineering at Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa in Cork.
He was a member of the 37th Cork Scout Troop based in Togher in the city.
The accident occurred just a mile from the family home he shared with his parents, brother and two sisters.
Former city councillor Togher-based Fergal Dennehy said Mr Finn’s death was an “awful tragedy” not only for his friends and family but for the wider community.