THE FIRST VICTIMS of Hurricane Ophelia have been named locally.

Three people died in three different counties as a result of the storm, which spent all of Monday battering the country as a whole.

58-year-old Clare O’Neill was this evening named as the woman who died this morning in Aglish, Co Waterford.

Clare died when the car she was driving was struck by a falling tree – a second woman in her 70s was injured and brought to hospital. Her injures are not believed to be life-threatening.

Clare lived in Waterford and worked as a cancer support coordinator.

In Co Tipperary, 31-year-old Michael Pyke has been named as the second victim of the storm.

Michael died as a result of a chainsaw accident in Cahir in the Munster county at about 12.30pm.

It’s understood he had been clearing a fallen tree at his property at the time of the tragic accident.

The third victim of Ophelia, a driver in Ravensdale in Co Louth has not yet been named.

With reporting from Cianan Brennan

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