LAST UPDATE | 31 Jan 2025

TWO MEN IN their 20s have died in a single-vehicle crash in Co Carlow.

Gardaí and emergency services are currently at the scene of the fatal collision on the N80 in Leagh, Rathoe, which occurred at approximately 1.15am this morning.

The driver and a passenger were pronounced deceased at the scene, a Garda spokesperson said.

Two other passengers, a man and woman aged in their 20s, were taken to St. Luke’s General Hospital in Kilkenny with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

The N80 at Leagh is currently closed and will remain closed for a number of hours as Garda Forensic Collision Investigators examine the scene, gardaí said. 

Local diversions are in place.

Gardaí are appealing for any witnesses to this collision to come forward.

It is understood the vehicle involved in this collision was travelling from Mount Leinster to Carlow town via Fenagh. 

Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling along this route, or who were on the N80 at Leagh between midnight and 1.15am are asked to make this footage available to Gardaí.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Carlow Garda station on 059 913 6620, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.

On this day last year, three young people were killed in a collision on the same stretch of road, the N80 in Leagh.

The three deceased in last year’s collision were Michael Kelly (25) from Nurney, Co Carlow, Daryl Culbert (21) from Kiltegan on the Carlow-Wicklow border and Katie Graham (19) from Arles, Co Carlow.

Another passenger in the car was taken to hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

Speaking following the collision last year, local Fine Gael councillor Brian O’Donoghue noted that a number of people had died in collisions on the N80 at Leagh in recent years.