Tributes have been paid to the wife of a Mullingar man who lost her life in a two-vehicle traffic crash in Brisbane, Australia last weekend.
Forensic crash unit investigations are ongoing after 32-year-old Carol Early lost her life in the incident in a small town near the Queensland capital last Saturday night (Saturday morning Irish time), 30 September.
Ms Early is the wife of Mullingar man Tony Buckley, a son of respected local couple Tony Snr and Madeline Buckley.
According to the Queensland Police News Service, initial investigations indicate that a vehicle was headed north on the Ford Road in the town of Priestdale when it collided with a second vehicle driven by Mr Buckley and his late wife, on the roundabout at Priestdale Road.
Both vehicles then hit a power pole before bursting into flames. Carol Early tragically died at the scene, while Mr Buckley and the male driver of the second vehicle were taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane with non-life-threatening injuries.
Ms Early and Mr Buckley had lived in Australia since 2017 and were married in their new home down under in recent years. A neighbour of the County Meath woman has described her as “a beautiful person, who always wore a lovely smile and when anyone met her, you were under her spell instantly, such was the beautiful person she was.”
RESPECTED
A respected graphic designer, Ms Early left her mark locally in Tony’s hometown of Mullingar, most notably in Clark’s on Patrick Street, where she re-designed the logo of the popular pub. Saddened management at Clarke’s paid tribute to Carol on Monday of this week.
“We’re all so heartbroken over this,” said Carole Clarke. “She was an amazing and talented girl and we will all miss her dearly. Our thoughts are with Tony, his family and Carol’s family at this difficult time.”
Friends of Tony and Carol in Australia have organised a Go Fund Me collection on behalf of Mr Buckley to cover the costs of her repatriation to Ireland and her funeral costs.
Donations can be made on https://www.gofundme.com/f/funeral-flights-home-for-tony-carol-buckley, or by scanning the QR code at the end of this article.
