An off-duty police sergeant was killed and the driver seriously injured when their car struck an oak tree on the R466 at Gortnaglogh, outside Broadford, County Clare, at approximately 5:30 p.m. on July 26, following two earlier fatal road collisions elsewhere in Ireland that same morning.
Passenger Andrew O'Riordan, a married father of five with 28 years' service based at Mayorstone Garda Station in Limerick, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver, a man in his 50s who had recently purchased the car and was taking O'Riordan for a drive, was airlifted to University Hospital Limerick with serious injuries and has since been discharged.
O'Riordan, a fluent French speaker, graduated from France's École Nationale Supérieure de la Police in 2023 and assisted French police during the 2024 Paris Olympics. An Garda Síochána has appealed for witnesses and dash-cam footage from the R466 around the time of the crash, while the road remains closed for technical examination.