A FATAL crash involving pilgrims returning from the eucharistic congress 80 years ago will be commemorated in Leixlip next week.
An open-backed lorry was carrying 31 people from an event in Phoenix Park to Tullamore when it crashed into the Salmon Leap bridge on the border between Dublin and Kildare at 3am.
All 31 passengers were thrown over the bridge on to the river bank, some 20ft below and some fell into the river Liffey.
Shop assistant Patrick Kenaney (23) was pronounced dead at the scene, while corn worker Edward Daly (28) died afterwards in Jervis Street Hospital. Mr Daly was a noted footballer and had played for Offaly.
Newspaper reports said 24 others were injured, some seriously. The Salmon Leap pub was used to treat the injured on the night and it was reported that local people attended the scene with lanterns to help the injured.
The parish pastoral council of Our Lady’s Nativity Church in Leixlip have organised the commemoration to tie in with the return of the Eucharistic Congress to Dublin in June.
Catherine Monaghan, council secretary, said the incident was not well-known so it was an appropriate time to remember the people who had died.
“We saw it as a way of drawing the community into the Eucharistic Congress by uniting the two events,” she said.
The bell that will be used to call pilgrims to the Eucharistic Congress in June will be taken to the two parish churches in Leixlip on Monday to mark the event.
On Tuesday, it will be carried from Our Lady’s Nativity Church to the bridge during the ceremony. A bronze plaque by local artist Jarlath Daly will be unveiled on the bridge. Ms Monaghan said it was hoped relatives of the people involved in the crash would attend.
