Skip to content
Tipperary Roads
Across the record
bronagh.iebronaghenglish.comkillardrybridge.comtipperaryroads.comtipperaryroaddeaths.comtipperarycouncilwatch.com

Factual record. No finding of causation or responsibility is made here.

Liam Browne and Michael Brennan: sulkies on public roads, April 2026

Factual record. No finding of causation or responsibility is made here.

At its April 2026 meeting Tipperary County Council took two motions on sulkies on public roads: Motion 3124 from Cllr Michael Brennan, seconded by Cllr Liam Browne, and Motion 3126 from Cllr Browne. The minutes record that each was agreed to be referred to the Environment & Climate Action Strategic Policy Committee (SPC).

What the record shows

  • Motion 3124, proposed by Cllr Michael Brennan and seconded by Cllr Liam Browne, asked "That Tipperary County Council prepare draft bye laws under the Control of Horses Act 1996, modelled on the Kilkenny County Council Equine Bye Laws" (April 2026 full Council minutes, NOM 3124).
  • The motion asked that the draft bye-laws "Prohibit sulky racing and the use of sulkies on all public roads within County Tipperary" (April 2026 minutes, NOM 3124).
  • Cllr Brennan said recent incidents across the county, "particularly in Clonmel", had shown risks to road users and to the animals; the minutes give no dates for those incidents (April 2026 minutes, NOM 3124).
  • Cllr Browne, seconding, spoke of the "fragmented nature of responsibility" between the Council, An Garda Síochána and the Department of Agriculture (April 2026 minutes, NOM 3124).
  • The minute records: "Cllr. Browne argued that sulky racing on roads is not a cultural issue but a serious road safety matter and warned that fatalities or serious injuries were inevitable if decisive action was not taken." That is a councillor's prediction as minuted, not a statistic (April 2026 minutes, NOM 3124).
  • The executive response noted: "All road users, including those operating horse-drawn vehicles, are subject to national road traffic laws." It stated that regulation of horse-drawn vehicles on public roads is governed primarily by the Roads Act 1993 and road traffic legislation "enforced by An Garda Siochana", and that the Council adopted Control of Horses Bye Laws in 2015 (April 2026 minutes, NOM 3124 response).
  • The response said a review of the 2015 bye-laws "can be referred to the Environment & Climate Action Strategic Policy Committee (SPC), if that is the consensus of the elected members" (April 2026 minutes, NOM 3124 response).
  • Director of Services Eamon Lonergan was recorded as confirming that the Council "operates within tight legislative and resource constraints" on horse control, and the Chief Executive as supporting the general intent while noting the limits of local authority powers (April 2026 minutes, NOM 3124).
  • The minutes record: "It was agreed to refer the motion to the relevant SPC for further consideration" (April 2026 minutes, NOM 3124).
  • Motion 3126, proposed by Cllr Browne, asked the Council to call on "the Minister for Transport, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the Government to introduce comprehensive national legislation governing the use of horse drawn sulkies on public roads". It listed a proposed "Sulky Road Use Licence (SRUL)" among its measures (April 2026 minutes, NOM 3126).
  • On 3126 the minutes record that "the use of sulkies is a legitimate activity that is subject to adherence to Road Safety and Animal Welfare legislation", and that it was "agreed that the motion would be referred to the Environment & Climate Action Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) for further consideration and a report will issue to the council within approximately 3 months" (April 2026 minutes, NOM 3126).

What the record does not show

  • The SPC's consideration, or any bye-law, is not in the minutes cited here; they record the referral only.
  • The minutes give no sulky-related fatality figure; the word "fatalities" appears only in the minuted summary of Cllr Browne's warning.
  • The incidents Cllr Brennan referred to are not dated or described beyond "particularly in Clonmel".
  • This page records the legislative and road-safety content of the minutes only. It makes no statement about any group of people.

Factual record. No finding of causation or responsibility is made here.

Road Death Tipp Road Death Tipp Tipperary road deaths — remembrance and records Remembrance and the official records, county by year. Working annual total. Not a count of points on the map. Open the map Partial map coverage. No ages shown. Explore → Partial map coverage. No ages shown.
Cahir–Cashel road statistics Cahir–Cashel Deadly place to drive ↗ × Cahir–Cashel road statistics Road statistics · sourced comparison Cahir–Cashel: 3.03× the national road-death rate 1 January 2018–31 December 2023 (six complete calendar years) . In the full Tipperary–Cahir–Cashel Municipal District, including its rural areas, the derived annualized rate was 8.61 people killed per 100,000 residents , compared with 2.84 nationally . This is an area comparison relative to population, not a personal likelihood. This page uses the full municipal district, not the populations of Cahir and Cashel towns. The linked road-deaths map and record has broader coverage and a different purpose. The headline figures 23 people killed in 21 fatal-collision records in the district 8.61 annualized people killed per 100,000 residents 3.03× the State rate on this population basis 36.5% of County Tipperary’s deaths and 26.5% of its population; the district rate was 37.6% above the county rate. District results The district’s fixed Census 2022 population is 44,532 . The 23 people comprised 11 drivers, 5 passengers, 5 pedestrians, 2 motorcyclists . They were not all drivers. Annual district deaths were 6, 4, 1, 3, 3, 6 from 2018 to 2023. Scroll horizontally to read this table. Five Tipperary municipal districts District 2022 population Fatal-collision records People killed People killed per 100,000 per year Clonmel 25,003 10 13 8.67 Tipperary–Cahir–Cashel 44,532 21 23 8.61 Carrick-on-Suir 20,191 7 7 5.78 Nenagh 40,879 11 12 4.89 Thurles 37,290 8 8 3.58 Scroll horizontally to read this table. Annual people killed Year Tipperary–Cahir–Cashel County Tipperary State 2018 6 10 134 2019 4 13 140 2020 1 7 141 2021 3 10 132 2022 3 7 152 2023 6 16 179 County comparison National baseline: the Republic of Ireland recorded 878 people killed across a fixed Census 2022 population of 5,149,139 , an annualized rate of 2.84 per 100,000 residents over these six years. Tipperary recorded 63 people killed , a rate of 6.25 , ranking #2 of 26 counties behind Monaghan (6.38). Tipperary’s rate was 2.20 times the national rate. Scroll horizontally to read this table. All 26 counties, ranked by annualized rate; the CSO county aggregate does not supply mapped source-record counts Rank County 2022 population People killed Fatal-collision records People killed per 100,000 per year 1 Monaghan 65,288 25 — 6.38 2 Tipperary 167,895 63 — 6.25 3 Donegal 167,084 53 — 5.29 4 Roscommon 70,259 22 — 5.22 5 Louth 139,703 41 — 4.89 6 Cavan 81,704 23 — 4.69 7 Mayo 137,970 38 — 4.59 8 Offaly 83,150 22 — 4.41 9 Kerry 156,458 41 — 4.37 10 Kilkenny 104,160 27 — 4.32 11 Leitrim 35,199 9 — 4.26 12 Longford 46,751 11 — 3.92 13 Westmeath 96,221 22 — 3.81 14 Clare 127,938 29 — 3.78 15 Meath 220,826 49 — 3.70 16 Sligo 70,198 15 — 3.56 17 Limerick 209,536 44 — 3.50 18 Wexford 163,919 34 — 3.46 19 Galway 277,737 49 — 2.94 20 Carlow 61,968 9 — 2.42 21 Cork 584,156 83 — 2.37 22 Laois 91,877 12 — 2.18 23 Waterford 127,363 15 — 1.96 24 Wicklow 155,851 18 — 1.92 25 Kildare 247,774 25 — 1.68 26 Dublin 1,458,154 99 — 1.13 A higher district comparator Boyle Municipal District, County Roscommon, recorded 15 people killed in 14 source records from a population of 24,421: 10.24 per 100,000 , about 19% higher than Tipperary–Cahir–Cashel. This is not a claim that Boyle is Ireland’s worst district; 11 districts were screened in this targeted comparison. Clonmel’s 8.67 rate is marginally higher than Cahir–Cashel’s 8.61; the largest raw count is not the highest district rate. Public council minutes: 2024–2026 These later public records are separate from the 2018–2023 statistical comparison. They record requests, responses and planned work—not findings of causation or proof that work was completed. 2025-05-26 James Swords: recorded response to a safety request The minutes record Councillor John O’Heney asking for safety measures following a recent tragic incident. James Swords is listed as District Engineer present; the response is attributed to that role. Limit: The minute does not name the bridge or specify a parapet repair. It does not say that Gardaí were to design or direct a bridge repair. there is an ongoing Gardai investigation into the incident and if there are any recommendations from the report it will be implemented. Excerpt from the minutes, not a verbatim speech transcript. Official minutes — attendance and District Engineer, PDF p. 1 — Officials Present; James Swords, District Engineer Official minutes — District Engineer’s report, PDF p. 5 — Item 3.4, District Engineer’s Report Official minutes — recorded response, PDF p. 6 — Item 3.4, District Engineer’s Report 2024-10-14 Máirín McGrath seconded the default-speed-limit motion Motion 2861 was proposed by Cllr Niall Dennehy and seconded by Cllr Máirín McGrath, a Cahir LEA member. The full County Council recorded unanimous agreement. The motion sought selective application of the new default limits, rather than universal application across the county. Limit: This was not a motion introducing a blanket 80-to-60 reduction. The December clarification below records the legal-advice referral. Official October minutes — Motion 2861, PDF p. 12 — Item 8.2, Notice of Motion Ref. 2861 Official October minutes — unanimous outcome, PDF p. 15 — Notice of Motion Ref. 2861 outcome Official Council AGM minutes — elected-area roles, PDF p. 2 — Item 2.1, elected members by electoral area 2024-12-09 Council clarification and legal advice The minutes record Chief Executive Sinéad Carr acknowledging support for Motion 2861, while explaining that legal advice was being sought on whether a plenary motion could supersede national legislation. The October minutes were to be amended to reflect that clarification. Limit: This does not establish a road-specific exception or a suspension of national rules. Official December minutes — clarification, PDF p. 2 — Item 3.1, Matters Arising on October minutes 2025-01-13 80-to-60 implementation and weather-delayed signs The minutes record 7 February 2025 as the commencement date for the rural-local-road default reduction from 80 to 60 km/h. They also record severe weather delaying sign-installation work and distinguish a later, wider Phase 2 review. Limit: This is a dated implementation note, not proof of the limit or weather at any individual crash site. Official January minutes — Speed Limit Review, PDF p. 11 — Item 7.1, Roads, Transportation, Health & Safety 2026-05-25 477 district bridges; 14 applications; three funded The District Engineer reported €1 million in county bridge funding, 477 bridges in the district, applications for 14 bridges requiring work and funding for three. Limit: The minute does not establish whether Killardry was among the 14; funding is not proof of completed work. Official May 2026 minutes — bridge funding, PDF p. 6 — Item 3.6, District Engineer’s Report 2026-05-25 Temporary measures considered at Rehill Bridge Following Cllr Máirín McGrath’s request for urgent rehabilitation, the District Engineer reported that Rehill tender documents were nearly complete and temporary measures were being considered to reopen the bridge, with completion hoped for by the end of that week. Limit: This records a plan and expectation, not verified completion. Official May 2026 minutes — Rehill Bridge, PDF p. 6 — Item 3.6, District Engineer’s Report The earlier bridge inspection The family’s published summary of Council inspection record TY-L3151-B-010 reports “Significant Damage” on 21 January 2025 and records downstream capping as “partly removed”. That inspection predates both the 24 April 2025 collision and the 26 May 2025 meeting response. Limit: This is a summary of a Council record held on file, not the original report online. The records checked do not establish whether or when James Swords personally received or read the inspection report. Published family summary of the Council inspection record When was the inspection circulated to the district engineering team, and what action was recorded? Further accountability research Read the full sourced record on the primary statistics page . Representatives Engineering Payments Road budgets Crash coverage Weather Surfaces and works Exposure comparisons Method and limits People killed ÷ fixed 2022 population ÷ 6 years × 100,000. Populations are fixed Census 2022 references. Counts concern collision locations, not resident addresses; the result is not a rate per journey or vehicle-kilometre. Current 2024 reference boundaries are applied retrospectively. The series is provisional and subject to revision. The figures do not establish why crashes happened or measure road-maintenance spending. Return home · Open the broader road-deaths map and record Sources RSA SourceData — Map of Collisions source data — Fatal-collision source records, 2018–2023; mapped locations assigned to current reference districts. CSO ROA15 — Persons Killed and Injured — State and county people-killed totals, 2018–2023; provisional/revisable series. CSO ROA12 — All road users — Independent national cross-check of people-killed totals, 2018–2023. CSO Census 2022 Table 8.1 background notes — State and county 2022 population background. CSO FY108 — official statutory LEA population CSV — 2022 population basis and statutory LEA/district mapping. Tipperary County Council Adopted Budget 2024, Table 7 (PDF) — Five municipal-district populations labelled as based on Census 2022; physical page 20. Tailte Éireann 2024 statutory boundary dataset service — Checked 2024 Tailte Éireann statutory municipal-district boundary dataset service; current reference boundaries applied retrospectively. Irish Statute Book S.I. 631/2018 — Optional Boyle municipal-district/LEA mapping context. Download the five-district CSV · Download the 26-county CSV · Download the public JSON snapshot Factual record. No finding of causation or responsibility is made here.

Contact the family

If you have information about this road, this bridge, or the records on this site, you can write to Bronagh's family here.

Sent only to the family. Not shared, not stored by any third party.

Explore the record

Road Death Tipp95 people killed on the roads of County Tipperary, 2016 to 2025 inclusive. Working annual total, not a count of points on the map. Partial map coverage. No ages shown. Cahir–Cashel road statisticsCahir–Cashel: 3.03× the national road-death rate. Open the sourced district statistics and council notes.