{"id":388312,"date":"2026-04-08T15:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T15:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/388312\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T15:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T15:48:08","slug":"anguished-parents-of-young-westmeath-boy-who-died-following-uk-car-crash-tell-of-unspeakable-heartbreak-at-loss-of-their-cherished-little-boy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/388312\/","title":{"rendered":"Anguished parents of young Westmeath boy who died following UK car crash tell of \u2018unspeakable heartbreak\u2019 at loss of their \u2018cherished little boy\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Much loved Dara O’Connor, of Birmingham, UK and Streamstown, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, died at Queens Hospital Nottingham surrounded by his loving family following the tragedy in the East Midlands.<\/p>\n

Tributes to Dara have poured in across both sides of the Irish sea in the wake of the days since, most notably from fun-loving youngster\u2019s parents, Garry and Laura.<\/p>\n

\"Tributes<\/p>\n

Tributes are pouring in for Dara O’Connor following his tragic passing in a road crash in the UK.<\/p>\n

News in 90 seconds – Wednesday, April 8<\/p>\n

In a moving reflection posted on RIP.ie, the couple said they are still coming to terms with the loss of their beloved son some two weeks on from his passing.<\/p>\n

\u201cDara passed away peacefully on the 23rd March 2026 at the Queens Hospital Nottingham surrounded by his loving family,\u201d his death notice read.<\/p>\n

\u201cDara was a bright light in the lives of all who knew him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe brought immeasurable joy, love and kindness into this world and his memory will be held forever in the hearts of his devastated parents, Garry and Laura and his adored little brother P\u00e1draic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered by his heartbroken grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and his many friends throughout Ireland and the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple revealed their plans to hold a celebration of Dara\u2019s life on Friday, April 16 at 3.30pm at Waseley Hills Crematorium, East Chapel, New Inns Lane.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur lives are forever changed by his presence and shattered by his loss\u201d, they movingly wrote.<\/p>\n

Those same sentiments have been equally felt both at home and across the water following confirmation Dara had, in keeping with his \u201cspirit of love and kindness\u201d become an organ donor.<\/p>\n

His grandmother, Mags said there were little words to express the sense of loss and devastation she and the wider O\u2019Connor family were endeavouring to navigate in recent days.<\/p>\n

In a heartbreaking tribute, she told of how Dara\u2019s enduring legacy would undeniably live on.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt breaks our heart to have lost you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bond we shared as granny and grandson is truly special, that no amount of time or distance can ever take away.<\/p>\n

\u201cDara, thank you for all the wonderful memories and all the fun times we shared together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for choosing me to be your Granny Mags, what a privilege.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour light will live on in my heart always, your love and your memory is my forever keepsake.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a similarly touching outpouring of emotion, a family based in west Sussex told of the indelible imprint little Dara had left in the hearts and minds of all who knew him.<\/p>\n

\u201cDara was a joy, a bundle of love, who brought happiness to everyone around him and will always be remembered this way,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cMay his beautiful little soul rest in peace and watch over us all.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Much loved Dara O’Connor, of Birmingham, UK and Streamstown, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, died at Queens Hospital Nottingham surrounded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,23576,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-388312","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-liam-cosgrove","11":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}