A MAN who died after his car entered the water on Clare Island in Co. Mayo has been named locally as Charles O’Malley.
A death notice for the 88-year-old, who was known locally as Charles Gerry, said he passed away ‘tragically following an accident’.
It added that Mr O’Malley was the owner of O’Malley Ferries, a family-owned business that operates services between Roonagh Pier on the mainland and Clare Island and Inisturk.
A post on the Clare Island Facebook page said it shared the new of Mr O’Malley’s passing ‘with heavy hearts and sadness’.
“A man of the sea, a man who dedicated his life to service to island communities, gentle and kind and most of all a family man,” it read.
“His loss will be felt far and wide and in particular in his native home of Clare Island.”
A statement from gardaí said they attended the scene of a fatal single-vehicle road traffic collision at Glen on Clare Island on Tuesday.
“A car entered the water at approximately 1pm and the driver, a man aged in his 80s, was pronounced deceased at the scene,” it read.
“His body was removed from the scene to Mayo University Hospital, where a post-mortem examination is due to take place.
“A Forensic Collision Investigator carried out an examination of the scene.”
Mr O’Malley will lay in repose at a funeral home in Louisburgh, Co. Mayo on Thursday before being brought home to Clare Island aboard his own boat, the Tormore, ahead of his funeral on Friday.