{"id":629908,"date":"2026-09-19T21:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T21:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/629908\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T21:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T21:04:09","slug":"limerick-mother-of-three-dies-after-trench-collapses-during-septic-tank-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/629908\/","title":{"rendered":"Limerick mother-of-three dies after trench collapses during septic tank work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Garda\u00ed<\/a> have referred an investigation into the death of a mother-of-three in Co Limerick<\/a> to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).<\/p>\n

The woman, who has been named locally as Elizabeth \u201cLiz\u201d Lynch, 44, from the Newcastle West area, died after a trench being dug in preparation for a septic tank collapsed on top of her.<\/p>\n

The fatal incident occurred at a site in Kilmeedy, a short distance from Newcastle West town.<\/p>\n

Despite the efforts of others at the scene, Ms Lynch was pronounced dead at the scene.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed attended \u201ca fatal workplace incident at a premises in Kilmeedy, Co Limerick\u201d on Friday, a garda spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA woman aged in her 40s was pronounced deceased at the scene. This matter has been referred to the HSA for further investigation,\u201d the garda spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

When asked for comment, a HSA spokesperson said: \u201cThe Health and Safety Authority is aware of the incident and has launched an investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mother of three was a keen sportswoman.<\/p>\n

She was an accomplished football player and coached in both GAA and soccer in her local community.<\/p>\n

Originally from Feenagh in Co Limerick she was living in the Newcastle West area before her death.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a lovely woman who was highly involved in women\u2019s sports,\u201d one person who knew her said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe coached girls’ teams and was loved and greatly respected locally. Her death is a terrible tragedy for her family and for the wider community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Family suffered another sudden bereavement\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ms Lynch\u2019s family suffered another sudden bereavement last year when her brother, Timothy Lynch Jnr, from Kilmurry, Feenagh, died on November 22, 2025.<\/p>\n

Mr Lynch was working as a builder on his own future home when he died.<\/p>\n

His partner, Catriona Brennan from Kilmeedy, said local first responders were the first on the scene and did all they could to save him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is deeply missed every day by myself and all of his family and friends. It’s been extremely hard, because Tim passed away so suddenly,\u201d Ms Brennan said at the time.<\/p>\n

\u2018Immense mourning\u2019<\/p>\n

Local Fine Gael councillor and publican Adam Teskey said: \u201cIt is an awful shock to people here in the locality, the area is in immense mourning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s taking a devastating toll on the community and our sympathies are with the family at this time,\u201d Mr Teskey said.<\/p>\n

Ms Lynch was involved in coaching young girls in sport and was a member of Monagea Ladies Gaelic Football Club.<\/p>\n

The club has suspended all activity this weekend as a mark of respect, as has Newcastle West Town FC.<\/p>\n

The Limerick Desmond Soccer League added its condolences online and said: \u201cOn behalf of the league we would like to pass on our condolences to Liz\u2019s family & friends at this very sad time, may she RIP.\u201d<\/p>\n

A fundraiser in Kilmeedy has also been cancelled following Ms Lynch\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis evening, our hearts are simply broken,\u201d a post from Kilmeedy Social Farm said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing the heartbreaking news from our parish this evening, we have made the very difficult decision to postpone Sarah\u2019s fundraiser for St. Ita\u2019s Community Hospital, which was due to take place this Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis decision wasn\u2019t taken lightly, but at a time like this, we feel it is only right to stand with our neighbours. Our thoughts, prayers and love are with all of the families affected, and we want to give them the space, love and privacy they need as they face the most difficult of circumstances,” the post said.<\/p>\n

“Please hug your loved ones a little tighter tonight. Check in on your neighbours. Be kind. And above all, let\u2019s look after one another.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Garda\u00ed have referred an investigation into the death of a mother-of-three in Co Limerick to the Health and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[185200,45,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-629908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-limerick-news","tag-an-garda-siochana","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629908","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=629908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}