A 22-year-old man from the Louisburgh area of Co Mayo has died in a road crash in Australia.
Alan Durkan, who had been working in a vineyard in Penola, Adelaide, died on Saturday evening after his car went out of control and rolled over on a dirt road.
He was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
He had emigrated to Australia in March of last year and is survived by his parents Andrew and Janet and a twin brother James.
His remains are to be repatriated for burial in Mayo.
Louisburgh undertaker Peter Sweeney, a friend of the Durkan family, said the entire community was devastated by the news.
Mr. Sweeney said Alan had visited his family at Christmas and was especially popular in the area.
News of the tragedy reached the family late on Saturday night and the parish priest, Fr Martin Long, led prayers for the dead youth in Louisburgh Church yesterday morning.
“The congregation was deeply shocked to hear at Mass that Alan had died," Austin Francis O’Malley, a member of Mayo County Council for the Louisburgh area, said today.
“He was popular amongst young and old. The grief is being deeply felt not alone in Louisburgh but in the surrounding villages," Mr O’Malley added.
