‘True gentleman’ named following fatal crash

A man killed in a road traffic accident in county Cork in the early hours of Tuesday morning has been named locally as Marco da Costa.

Mr da Costa, who was aged in his 50s, was involved in a single vehicle collision on the N71 in Clonakilty town at approximately 12.15am.

Gardaí confirmed he was the sole driver of the car. He was pronounced dead at the scene, which was near the SuperValu supermarket.

Known well in Clonakilty town, Mr da Costa worked as a bartender at the popular Courtyard Bar.

In a post on Facebook, his work colleagues paid tribute to Mr da Santa, him as “charming” and a “true gentleman”.

The post read: “This morning we received the tragic news that our friend and work colleague Marco da Costa was involved in a fatal car accident.

“We are devastated by this news.

“Marco started work at the Courtyard last year and made many friends along the way with his charming personality.

“Our sympathies go out to Marco’s work colleagues, friends, and family especially his little girl, Stella and his great friends Lynne and Rob.

“Thank you to everyone for reaching out to us today to offer their support. Marco was a true gentleman, and we will miss him dearly.”

Gardaí are continuing their appeal for witnesses to the tragic accident and ask that anyone with any information to contact Clonakilty Garda Station on 023-8821570, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800-666111, or any garda station.

Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) who were travelling in the area between 12am (midnight) and 12.30am are to make this footage available to gardaí.

Mr de Santa’s body was removed to CUH where a post-mortem examination will take place in due course.

Gardaí have confirmed that the N71 in Clonakilty is now open again.The road was closed on Tuesday for a number of hours.