{"id":596210,"date":"2026-08-17T17:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T17:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/596210\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T17:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T17:30:09","slug":"a-very-dark-day-in-carlow-sisters-seriously-injured-in-fatal-m9-crash-are-named-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/596210\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A very dark day in Carlow\u2019: Sisters seriously injured in fatal M9 crash are named \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three women and a boy who were seriously injured after their car was struck by a stolen vehicle on the M9 motorway in Co Kildare<\/a> on Sunday remain in hospital. <\/p>\n

Five teenage boys, who were travelling in a stolen BMW in the wrong direction on the motorway near Moone, were killed in the incident<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Family and friends have posted messages, naming the teenagers as: Kamil Pustkowski (17) from Limerick; Jack Kennedy (17) from Athy, Co Kildare; Jeremy O\u2019Brien, who was in his late teens and from Carlow; Joe \u201cJoey\u201d Carthy (15) from Athy; and Alex McCarthy (17) from Carlow.<\/p>\n

It is understood that sisters Alma and Niamh Kinsella, aged in their 30s, were in the front of the second car while their younger sister Ella Hendricken, aged in her 20s, was a rear-seat passenger alongside her nephew. The young boy was also seriously injured in the incident.<\/p>\n

The older sisters remain in a critical condition in Tallaght University Hospital<\/a>, while their younger sister is being treated for serious injuries in St Vincent\u2019s University Hospital<\/a> after being transferred there from St Luke\u2019s Hospital in Kilkenny.<\/p>\n

The boy is being treated for serious injuries at the children\u2019s hospital in Crumlin<\/a>. <\/p>\n

All four are from the Carlow<\/a> area. They were making their way to Dublin Airport to attend a family wedding in England when the collision occurred at about 3am on Sunday.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Analysis: M9 crash is latest incident as young men chase social media \u2018likes\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a terrible, sad event,\u201d Fr Tom Little, from Askea parish in Carlow, told The Irish Times.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very hard to comprehend what\u2019s after happening. Everybody is hoping that those that are injured will make a full recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little has been in touch with the family of those who were injured and said they were \u201cbereft with sadness\u201d. He has also been in touch with some relatives of the deceased teenagers, saying it was \u201ca terrible day for them too\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a terrible loss, [the boys] had their whole life in front of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> said he was \u201cshocked and saddened at the horrific road crash\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy thoughts and prayers are with the family who have been injured. I wish them a full recovery,\u201d he said in a statement on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lives of five teenagers have also been lost as a result. Every death on our roads brings untold grief to families and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Referencing a separate car crash which occurred last week<\/a> when a stolen car was driven in the wrong direction on the M50 motorway, Martin said: \u201cThis is the second appalling crash we\u2019ve seen on our roads in a matter of days as a result of the reckless driving of a car on the wrong side of the motorway, endangering the lives of innocent road users.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach said such behaviour was \u201cirresponsible and dangerous act\u201d and it was \u201cshocking that in some cases it is being done for likes on social media\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said he would speak to Minister for Justice Jim O\u2019Callaghan<\/a> and An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na<\/a> about the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere can be no tolerance for this reckless behaviour that we have seen on our roads recently. It must stop,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n

Local councillor Paul Doogue said the Carlow community was in \u201ctotal shock\u201d and hoping the injured people will recover. <\/p>\n

The Fine Gael<\/a> councillor said it was tragic that such a \u201clife-changing\u201d incident could happen to a family setting out on a holiday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no point in saying different, it\u2019s actually shocking.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Five masked teenagers killed in M9 crash are suspected of local crime spreeOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Doogue extended his sympathies to the families of the teenagers who were killed. He said the law must be respected, but it was \u201cso tragic to have five young lives lost\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said his thoughts were also with the garda\u00ed and other members of the emergency services who attended the scene, saying what they witnessed was \u201cabsolutely horrific\u201d.<\/p>\n

Cllr Ken Murnane, mayor of Carlow, said the local community was \u201cdevastated by what\u2019s happened\u201d. <\/p>\n

The Fianna F\u00e1il<\/a> councillor said the injured women and child were \u201cin our minds, please God they will make a complete recovery\u201d. He also extended sympathy \u201cto the families of the young men that have lost their lives\u201d.<\/p>\n

Fergal Browne, a local Fine Gael councillor, said it was \u201ca very dark day\u201d in Carlow.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a dreadful tragedy on many levels, and obviously it will have a big impact in Carlow with the family that unfortunately were involved in the crash, and then the individuals who lost their lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mark Leigh, a Labour<\/a> councillor in Kildare, said the situation was \u201cvery tragic\u201d and it was \u201cgoing to be a tough week\u201d in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst and foremost, I\u2019m thinking of all the families involved, and hoping beyond hope that the family that survived the crash pull through.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement, Tusla<\/a> said its staff were working to provide supports to the families and communities affected by the crash. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur thoughts are with those who were injured, and those who lost their lives in the tragic and distressing incident which took place on the M9 over the weekend,\u201d the child and family agency said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAn Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na<\/a> are continuing to investigate all the circumstances of this incident, and we will provide any information necessary to support them in their investigations into this tragedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur staff will be working with partner organisations to provide supports to the local families and communities affected.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three women and a boy who were seriously injured after their car was struck by a stolen vehicle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596211,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[45,16665,44746,895,3775,61,60,3770,1843,43,101589,65959,53],"class_list":["post-596210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-an-garda-siochana","tag-carlow","tag-children-s-health-ireland-chi-at-crumlin","tag-fianna-fail","tag-fine-gael","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kildare","tag-micheal-martin","tag-news","tag-st-vincent-s-university-hospital","tag-tallaght-university-hospital","tag-tusla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596210","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=596210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}