THE mum and daughter killed in a horrific road crash tragedy in Co Donegal on Wednesday evening have been named locally.
Ella McLaughlin, aged six, and mum Natalie McLaughlin, aged in her 20s, died in the crash between a car and a van on the Inishowen Peninsula.
Little Ella was fatally injured in the crash, which took place shortly after 6.30pm on Wednesday, and pronounced dead at the scene.
Her mother was taken to Altnagelvin Hospital following the crash and later transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, where she died yesterday evening.
Ms McLaughlin, who was in her 20s, was well-known in her native Carndonagh where she worked as a nurse in a local doctor’s surgery.
She qualified with a Bachelor of Science in Adult Nursing from Ulster University and began working as a Registered Nurse in 2022.
Ella’s father, who is in his 30s, and her two-year-old sister are being treated in hospitals in Derry and Belfast for non-life threatening injuries.
It is understood the driver of the van, a man aged in his late teens, did not sustain serious injuries.
Cathaoirleach of the Inishowen Municipal Authority, Councillor Martin McDermott, who knows the family personally, said the loss of both a young girl and her mother is particularly poignant.
He said: “Words fall short at this time, what can anybody say? They are such a lovely family and so well respected in our local community.
“It’s just devastating. The loss of anybody on our roads is difficult for any community to take.
“But the loss of a mother and daughter, particularly given the fact that they are so young, is even more poignant and more difficult to accept.
“People are just numb and there is very little I can add to that other than to keep them all in our thoughts and prayers.”
Donegal Councillor Joy Beard told how it’s the kind of news that “stops you in your tracks and breaks your heart in two”.
‘SHOCK & DISBELIEF’
She added: “This is an unimaginable loss for their family, friends and all who knew them and for our wider community.
“Inishowen is once again plunged into grief.
“Please keep their loved ones in your heart, thoughts and prayers as they face this unbearable sorrow.”
Parish priest of Carndonagh, Fr Con McLaughlin, went to the hospital in Derry yesterday to meet relatives of the crash victims.
He said: “In the community there is a shock and a disbelief. One can only imagine what the family are going through and I witnessed that pain in the hospital last night.
“The scene in the hospital was just so, so sad. You had doctors and nurses running around trying to do their best to help these poor helpless people. It is something I will never, ever forget.
“I just wanted to be a presence there for the family and I did not speak too much but I just wanted them to know that we are all there for them.”
‘OUR HEARTS ARE BROKEN’
Road Victim Support Northern Ireland-Donegal also extended its sympathies to the family and the wider community.
It said: “Our hearts are broken for this young family, for their loved ones, and for the entire Carndonagh and Inishowen community, who are now grieving the unimaginable loss of both a mother and child.
“There are no words that can ease the suffering of a family or community facing such a profound tragedy. We can only stand with them in their grief and offer our continued support.
“We also extend our thoughts to all those affected by this collision, including the other individuals involved, emergency responders, medical teams, and the wider community who are struggling to come to terms with this loss.”
The group said it is on hand to offer emotional, practical, and advocacy support to individuals, families, and communities impacted by the tragedy.
It added: “Let us all hold this grieving family in our hearts tonight and in the difficult days ahead.”
INFO APPEAL
Gardai continue to investigate all aspects of the collision and are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the crash to come forward.
Head of the Garda Traffic Corps in Co Donegal, Inspector Sean McDaid asked any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were traveling in the area between 6pm and 6.30pm on Wednesday 2nd July, 2025, to make this footage available to investigating Gardai.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Buncrana Garda Station on 074 932 0540, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.
The R240 is one of the main thoroughfares connecting north Inishowen and Co Donegal and reopened yesterday evening following a technical examination of the crash scene.
The tragedy comes after four people – three men and a woman – were hospitalised following a two-car crash outside Carndonagh on the same road in January.
The collision took place on Thursday, January 2 just before 7pm, close to Glentogher National School.
Late last year, Donegal teen Tiernan Doherty-Kelly, 18 was killed when the car he was driving left the road near Buncrana on the Inishowen Peninsula at around 5am on the morning of Sunday, December 1.
He was sadly pronounced dead at the scene on the R244, known locally as the Mountain Road, at Ballinlough in Donegal.
