An Irish man (33) and his wife (32) have died following a road crash in upstate New York on Saturday afternoon.
The young couple, John Heneghan and Caitlyn Holtzman, had been living in America for several years.
Three other people were seriously injured in the crash and have been taken to Albany Medical Centre. The incident occurred shortly before 3pm in the town of Clifton Park.
Mr Heneghan is from Co Mayo and had been living in America for several years. Ms Holtzman was an American citizen.
New York State police said a 58-year-old man, Dickie Winn, has been charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, two counts of vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated.
He has been remanded to Saratoga County Jail and is due back in court on May 29th.
Police said the crash occurred as Mr Winn’s car veered out of the lane he was driving in, and collided with the other car, according to local media reports.
Fr John Kenny is a parish priest in Partry, Co Mayo, near where Mr Heneghan grew up and described him as a “popular man” in the small, rural community.
He is survived by his father, a brother, and three sisters, as his mother died in 2010, Fr Kenny said.
Mr Heneghan and Ms Holtzman married in 2015, in Ballintubber Abbey, Claremorris, which is a small, picturesque abbey built in the 13th century, where John’s mother used to work.
“He emigrated to the [United] States a number of years ago,” Fr Kenny told The Irish Times.
“It’s a small rural community. The word is still only spreading around, we heard the news yesterday afternoon,” he said.
Mr Heneghan “always wanted to keep strong links with home,” regularly keeping in touch from abroad on social media, Fr Kenny said.
In May, Mr Heneghan attended the GAA match in Gaelic Park, New York, where Mayo travelled to play the US side in their first game of the Championship.
That would have been the last time he got to see some of his close friends from home, who had travelled to America for the game, Fr Kenny said.
Ms Holtzman was an only child, with the news of her death was “devastating” for her family, he said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it is aware of the case and is providing consular assistance to Mr Heneghan’s family.
