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Entrance to Dowdallshill grave yard in Dundalk. Google maps

'Fear in people's faces': Priest describes moment car ploughs through crowds at Dundalk grave yard

A man in his 20s remains in garda custody today following the incident.

A PARISH PRIEST has described the “frightening” moment a car ploughed through a crowd attending a religious event in Dundalk yesterday. 

One man was left seriously injured, and a number of others were also injured, after a car drove at speed through Dowdallshill grave yard in Dundalk, Co Louth during the annual Blessing of the Graves ceremony yesterday afternoon. 

The man was rushed to Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda, while the driver fled from the scene.

A man in his 20s was later arrested following the incident and remains in custody today. 

Fr Mark O Hagan, parish priest at St Patrick’s church in Dundalk, was delivering the service when he saw “hundreds of people just running and screaming and shouting”. 

“It was coming to the end of the Blessing of the Graves, I was at the podium with the choir and a number of other priests, and all of a sudden I could hear shouting and screaming to my left,” he said on RTÉ Radio 1′s Morning Ireland programme. 

“I popped my head around the corner and I could see hundreds of people just running and screaming and shouting, and somebody shouted up ‘father phone for an ambulance’.

“Children were crying, people just walking in disbelief at what had happened, fear in people’s faces.

“The car sped past me up to the upper car park, he seemed to do a wheelie and hit a number of cars in the car park, and come back again.

“Coming back I tried to instinctively just put my left hand out from where I was – I was way off the path – to sort of say ‘please please try to stop, stop or slow down’.

“The driver then mounted the kerb and was coming towards myself, when I instinctively jumped out of the way, and I thought the car itself was making its way to the podium.”

Videos of the incident were shared across social media, and the dark-coloured car was then driven out of the car park and onto the street before eventually coming to a stop. 

“He did a U-turn and came back the way he came and sped down where he came, and down the left hand side and out of the grave yard.

“At this stage then I went over to the man who had been injured and anointed him and spoke and started asking people to get off the path, because at this stage we didn’t know where the car was or what was happening.”

The man who was seriously injured remains in hospital, with Fr O Hagan saying “he was moved from Drogheda hospital to Beaumont hospital last night with serious head injuries”. 

“It was very frightening, people just in disbelief, pure disbelief at what was going on. It was a religious ceremony… it’s a community [and] family day out, where people come together and make a day out of it and go out.”

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    Mute Earth Traveller
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 8:33 AM

    That driver will be looking at a lengthy suspended sentence.

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    Mute bings
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 8:22 AM

    Make sure you anoint him before you ring an ambulance. Hope he makes a recovery

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    Mute Dave O'Keeffe
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 8:28 AM

    @bings: to be fair there’s nothing in the article that suggests it happened in that order.

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    Mute Willie Murphy
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 8:30 AM

    @bings: I’m sure he wasn’t the only 1 there with a phone?

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    Mute Eoin Mac Colin
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 9:17 AM

    @bings: It happened 20 meters away from the Order of Malta ambulance that brought him to hospital

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    Mute Belebop
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 9:50 AM

    @bings: There was a St. John’s ambulance at the blessing. When the poor lad was hit the crew ran over and attended to him.

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    Mute Philip Howlin
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 10:14 AM

    @bings:
    maybe he did ring ambulance and Gardai
    maybe he didn’t have his phone with him
    maybe switched off or on silent.
    maybe someone told him they had rang ambulance and Gardai.
    There are so many more may bed
    But you could not resist having a cut at a priest, regardless of circumstances

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    Mute Gisbert Bayertz
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 10:40 AM

    Everything ok boss

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    Mute Thomas Quinn
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 8:36 AM

    Anyone got anymore context to this?

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    Mute The Great Unwashed
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 8:45 AM

    @Thomas Quinn:
    Culture.

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 9:49 AM

    @The Great Unwashed: how do you?

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    Mute The Great Unwashed
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 9:57 AM

    @Paul Furey:
    How do I what?

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    Mute Yermanuptheroad
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 12:26 PM

    @Thomas Quinn: Don’t know nottin boss, twasnt me, I was only lookin for me little dag.

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    Mute Means of escape
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 12:45 PM

    @Paul Furey: he was bare chested ……

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    Mute Eamonn O Connell
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 12:50 PM

    I’d say it was a Caravan Utilizing Nomadic Traveller who was un the car

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    Mute Aine O Connor
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 9:16 AM

    I would wager a guess that the man was mentally ill. Why else would anyone drive into a place crowded with people.

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    Mute Nicky O'Donnell
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 9:28 AM

    @Aine O Connor: Please don’t insult the mentally ill in that way. People who commit calculated acts of extraordinary violence or terrorism know exactly what they are doing.

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    Mute Aine O Connor
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 9:52 AM

    @Nicky O’Donnell:
    Why would you think that I was insulting the mentally ill. It is well known that if a sick person is in a psychotic state of mind they are not responsible or aware of the gravity of their actions.
    If the man is a terrorist he will be dealt with by the law.

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    Mute Sean Leonard
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 11:53 AM

    @Aine O Connor: Wake up… k n a c k s or as detailed earlier are you living on the Movie set of “A Quite Man”

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    Mute Nicky O'Donnell
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 12:38 PM

    @Aine O Connor: You are equating mental illness with violence which only adds to the stigma and sterotyping of people with mental illness, the overwhelming majority of who are not actually violent people. In most cases, when people commit acts of violence, they are entirely sane and know exactly what they are doing and what their intent is.

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    Mute Aine O Connor
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 1:04 PM

    @Nicky O’Donnell:
    Well you do not know what the motivation was of the man was and neither do I. He could have been high on drugs either.But for the record I have first hand experience of the state of mind that some seriously mentally ill people can experience if they stop taking their medication. A family member RIP suffered from schizophrenia, she was very gentle and would not hurt a fly but some people (a tiny minority)with this serious illness , when they are experiencing a psychotic episode carry out deeds that makes no sense .

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    Mute dominic
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    Jul 22nd 2019, 4:35 PM

    @Aine O Connor: This lad could well have been full of family pride, righteousness and at least a gallon of cider!

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