Ashbourne plunged into mourning by shocking road death

Ashbourne came to a complete standstill on Saturday for the funeral of popular local man, Paul Martin, whose death in a tragic road accident in Kilkenny on Tuesday of last week was the third tragedy to devastate his family in just two weeks. Mr Martin"s mother, Catherine, was buried only eight days earlier and his grandfather, James, was buried two days before that in County Fermanagh. The entire community of Ashbourne was plunged into shock and grief at the news of the 30 year-old"s death in the accident at Tennypark, Kilkenny, at around 4.30pm on Tuesday of last week. He died along with Brian O"Keefe (22), from Achill Island in County Mayo, when their car collided with a lorry just outside Kilkenny. Both young men, who were engineers, were pronounced dead at the scene and are believed to have been travelling to Dublin after finishing a job in Waterford. Mr Martin, from Hunters Lane in Ashbourne, was just 30 years-old and was a popular member of the Donaghmore-Ashbourne GAA club. Although he had taken time off in 2008 to look after his mother, he played a pivotal role in Donaghmore/ Ashbourne"s Division 3B league success where he lined out at full-back for the team. Deceased is survived by his father, Gerry, who has also been very active in the GAA club, and was involved in the building of the new clubhouse. The Donaghmore-Ashbourne club provided a guard of honour at the removal of his remains to the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Ashbourne and the funeral the following day to St Declan"s Cemetery. A guard of honour lined the main street of Ashbourne and the huge crowds who attended both ceremonies brought the town to a standstill. The chairman of Donaghmore-Ashbourne GAA club, Conor Tormey, said the entire community was stunned and saddened by the terrible tragedies that had hit the family over the past few weeks. 'It was so shocking, so quickly after his mother and grandfather"s deaths. They are such a nice family and everyone is terribly upset,' said Mr Tormey. 'Paul was very popular with everyone. He played with the club since he was nine years-old and also played as an adult. He was always good-humoured and cheered people up,' he added. Mr Martin also played soccer with Ashbourne United. In addition to his father, Mr Martin is survived by his brother, Brian; sisters, Louise and Lisa; grandmother, aunts and uncles.