LAST UPDATE | 9 May

AN INFANT BOY who died in a “tragic accident” yesterday afternoon in Ennis, Co Clare has been named locally.

Hunter Molloy, who was 18 months old, died following what gardaí described as a “road traffic incident”.

It happened shortly after 12.30pm yesterday in a residential area on Quin Road, Ennis.

The area is a permanent Traveller accommodation site outside the town.

Hunter was transferred from the scene to University Hospital Limerick, but died in hospital as a result of his injuries.  

Hunter was the youngest of three children.

Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Ennis parish priest Father Tom Ryan said the family are “devastated to put it mildly”.  

Fr Ryan married Hunter’s parents and baptised their children, and said he knows the family well.

“Yesterday afternoon, the sun was shining here in Clare and in a split-second, life changed for the Molloy family and will never be the same again with the death of their young child in an instant and in a tragic accident,” said Fr Ryan.

He added that the family are “totally confused, upset, and bewildered”.

Fr Ryan said the local community will “support them, listen to them, journey with them, and help them with their pain”.

There was a prayer service for and with the family last night, which Fr Ryan presided over.

“The whole community, a close-knit community, got together in the open air and prayed with and for one another, for the strength to be able to get those these days and hours that lie ahead, especially over the coming days with the funeral to be arranged,” said Fr Ryan.

A family liaison officer has been appointed to support the family.