Agnes Foley pleads guilty after car mounts footpath in Charleville

Agnes Foley, 87, pleaded guilty in Cork Circuit Criminal Court to careless driving that killed Mary Fehilly and caused serious bodily harm to John Collins. The incident occurred on November 2, 2024, on Main Street in Charleville, County Cork. Foley admitted that she mistakenly pressed the accelerator instead of the brake while attempting to park.

The court heard that Foley, a resident of Farran in Charleville, had driven for 60 years without a prior incident. She was traveling in her Mazda with her daughter for lunch when the collision occurred. Garda Christopher Gleeson testified that Foley was slowing down to enter a parking space on Main Street. She put her foot on the accelerator, and the vehicle mounted the footpath.

The car struck Fehilly, 72, and Collins, 68, before rolling back off the pavement. Fehilly was transported by air ambulance to Cork University Hospital. She died later that evening. Dr. Yvonne McCarthy, the State Pathologist, determined that Fehilly died from hemorrhage and shock resulting from multiple traumatic injuries caused by the motor vehicle collision.

Collins suffered a fractured pelvis and severe injuries to his left leg. In a victim impact statement read into the record, Collins described his current life as centered around medical appointments. Despite completing 40 physiotherapy sessions and four lymphatic draining treatments, doctors told him he would live with reduced mobility.

Siobhán Fehilly read a statement on behalf of her father George, her siblings Nollaig, Pádraig, Maeve, and Gearóid, and herself. She described their mother as the heart of the family. Siobhán Fehilly noted that her parents, Mary and George, were married for 49 years and were looking forward to their 50th anniversary. She recalled seeing her mother lying on the footpath, knowing she was badly injured. Fehilly’s mother told her, “I’m going to die.” The family brought George to the scene in case it was the last time he would see her alive.

Defense counsel Marjorie Farrelly asked for leniency, noting that Foley was a widow, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Farrelly stated that Foley had no indication of impairment before the crash and had stopped driving following the incident. She emphasized that Foley cooperated with gardaí from the beginning and admitted her mistake. Foley wrote letters of apology to both families. In one letter, she wrote, “I feel so guilty. Nothing will ever erase it from my mind. That day will always be a nightmare.”

Farrelly characterized the event as a momentary lapse with devastating consequences. She said Foley never shied away from her responsibility. Judge Helen Boyle extended sympathies to the Fehilly family and to Collins. She adjourned the sentencing hearing to November 4, 2026.