West Mayo community praised for helping stranded motorists during heavy snow

The Meitheal spirit of a west Mayo community who came to the aid of dozens of stranded motorists caught in heavy snow has been praised for saving lives.

Heavy snowfall in west Mayo last Wednesday night saw parts of the N59 between Mulranny and Newport become impassable. Many motorists were forced to abandon their vehicles in freezing weather conditions.

However, local people around Tiernaur and Mulranny spent the night coming to the aid of motorists who got stuck in the heavy snow, and many opened their homes to strangers.

Local GP and former TD, Dr Jerry Cowley said people spent hours through the night using tractors and machines to tow vehicles off the road and out of danger, adding that they deserved medals for their selfless actions.

Heroic acts

Dr Cowley said that in 43 years living in Mulranny he had never seen snow like it. He told The Mayo News had local people not come to the aid of stranded motorists, they could have developed hypothermia in the freezing conditions.

“If you were stuck in your car in those temperatures and were of a certain age there was a real chance you could die from hypothermia, it was that serious,” he said.

“These people were heroic in the acts they did. There is no other way to describe it. It was lifesaving what they did, and you could not put a value on their efforts last Wednesday night and Thursday morning. They are deserving of a medal for endeavour and community service….

“This is another example of what could have been a terrible calamity but it turned into a wonderful tribute to those people and the community who were there to help people in need of help and support. Anyone passing through were safe and taken care of. Nobody had any hardship because these people were there. They are the unsung heroes,” he said.

Snowfall epicentre

Although a yellow weather warning was in place on Wednesday, the amount of snow that fell was unexpected. Many were caught by surprise, including people returning from work in Abbvie in Westport and others returning from bingo in Newport.

Dr Cowley said the epicentre of the snowfall was around Mulranny and Tiernur, and the N59 was impassable and dangerous. He was fulsome in his praise of the McHale family in Tiernaur, Colm Ginnelly in Rosturk and Dylan Moran in Mulranny, who spent the night towing stranded vehicles and keeping the road clear.

“Eveything happened so quick and I don’t think anyone could have been prepared for it, but it just shows you want a community can do,” he added.

“This could have been very dangerous because there was nothing moving with only one road going through Mulranny. It would have been very serious if the ambulance needed to get out and they did an essential job and it was magnificent. It was all done in the darkness as well and they were there til the early morning. The tractor in Mulranny was there ready for action and it was in action and it was the same with Colm Ginnelly in Rosturk and the McHale’s in Tierneur. These people are all saints and did magnificent work.”

‘It was frightening’

While some people did spend the night in their vehicles, other motorists were given a warm bed to sleep in after households along the N59 opened their doors to strangers.

One motorist who was the beneficiary of the kindness was Achill-based doctor Noreen Lineen-Curtis. She and her daughter Áine were forced to abandon their car after it got stuck in Tiernaur at around midnight.

Earlier that afternoon, Noreen had left Limerick for Achill at 4pm, and while she heard reports of snow in Achill, she could not believe what she was driving into after leaving Castlebar.

“By the time we got to Castlebar it was snowy, but we decided to keep going, and it was getting worse and worse. We were crawling and passing more and more cars that had gone off the road and been abandoned,” Ms Lineen-Curtis explained.

“The road was pure white with thick snow and getting worse as the journey went on. I thought it would get better the nearer we got to the sea but it didn’t. I never saw anything like it and did not expect it. It was frightening.

“We got as far as Tiernuar, just after Nevin’s [bar and restaurant], when we got totally stuck and skidded and got stuck in the snow. There were loads of other cars, and within half an hour there were 12 or 15 of us stuck in the same place.

“A very kind local man called Frank McHale who had a machine on caterpillar tracks towed everyone one by one to the top of the hill with the hope of [us] continuing but several of us got stuck again.”

Noreen said that she and Áine anticipated having to bunker down for the night in the car, but local man Jackie Rumley opened his home to them at 2am.

“I thought, this was as far as we’re going. Only for the kindness of the neighbours we would have been in the car for the night,” she said.

“Other people opened their doors and let people in, while others who made it as far as Mulranny were kindly put up by people there. People were very kind and opened their doors to strangers to let them stay the night. It was awfully nice of them.”

Worst in memory

The full scale of the snowfall was evident at first light on Thursday morning when a thick blanket of snow covered the area. Noreen set off for home in Achill at 8am that morning.

“It was shocking around Mulranny with people stuck and cars all over the place abandoned. It took us another two hours before we finally reached Achill, 18 hours after leaving Limerick. It was an eventful journey.”

Dr Cowley, who is also chairperson of St Brendan’s Nursing Unit, said he had to go out in the snow to ferry staff to work.

“My car was totally snowed in. If it was not for Seán and Liam Doherty and Paul and Adrian Grealis, who dug me out, I would not have been able to move,” he said.

“The snow was so thick on the road you had to keep on the track of the tyres ahead of you, and in some spots there was only one track. The snow was so thick either side of the tyre track that if you went off it you were in danger of getting stuck – and many did. If you went to the side of the road you were stuck, so it was almost impossible to turn around even if you wanted to. I have been here for 43 years and I have never seen the likes of it before.

“Thankfully there were no incidents of serious collisions and injuries, but it could have easily been worse had it not been for the people out with tractors and taking cars off the road. It was a real meitheal spirit. The goodness people have in that community was there to be seen. It was absolutely amazing.”