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John Dinan’s truck, stuck in Ballyorgan outside Foxes Designer Suites from 7.30am until 1.40pm on Tuesday last.

As the majority of The Avondhu catchment area was sheltered from the predicted snow and sleet this week, arctic weather conditions prevailed in South Limerick for much of Tuesday, with a number of vehicles stranded and many near misses for motorists reported. 

One of the most startling incidents was in Ballyorgan, where a truck driver was stranded for more than six hours, as he waited for the road to be cleared.

John Dinan travelled from Kildorrery on Tuesday morning and found himself stranded in Ballyorgan at about 7.30am, as he couldn't move his truck without skidding and blocking the road. He has been driving this route for about ten years and said that he had never seen it as bad as it was.

He managed to pull his truck in front of Foxes Designer Suites and luckily used their landline phone to call his family and employer, as there is no phone or broadband reception there, so getting in touch with people is next to impossible.

"It was quite sudden, but there were trees partially blocking the road from Kildorrery. If the council came out and salted or ploughed, I'd get out, but it's too dodgy to move. There are two or three inches of snow here," he said, speaking to The Avondhu before the council had arrived.

Limerick council were using trucks to grit and salt areas and also had a snow plough in operation, but they only tackled priority routes that morning and didn't reach Ballyorgan until after lunch time.

Speaking to The Avondhu about the response time (the truck driver left Ballyorgan at 1.40pm, having been there since 7.30am), a spokesperson for Limerick City and County Council said that Ballyorgan and the nearby regional road is not on the winter maintenance route.

"Our engineer wasn't aware of the truck and regardless, the road crews would not have reached Ballyorgan any sooner than 1.30pm, as the snow clean up occurred on a priority basis on the regional roads, followed by villages on local roads."

Roy and Marie Fox added that because of the weather and the fact that the council didn't come out that morning, it was detrimental to their business, as delivery trucks couldn't get to them.

Meanwhile, cars and vans were left abandoned on the road from Mitchelstown to Kilfinane, a number of trucks were stuck on the road between Mitchelstown and Ballylanders and a school bus skidded in Ballylanders village.

According to reports, up to four inches of snow fell in Kilfinane, while up to six inches fell in Ardpatrick and the snowfall seems to have happened overnight, with many people in the South Limerick areas of Kilfinane, Ardpatrick, Ballyorgan, Ballylanders, Knockadea, Anglesboro and Galbally all waking up to a white Tuesday morning.

As other areas were merely wet and completely snow-free, the drastic road conditions caught many commuters unaware. Daniel O'Halloran who lives in Mitchelstown and has been commuting to Charleville for the past three years, told The Avondhu that it was one of the worst scenes he has encountered in this area.

Speaking on Tuesday morning, he said that there was a line of cars backed up on the small hill coming into Kilfinane from the Mitchelstown side, while there were trucks and vans stuck in the ditch. He added that the poor road conditions and snowy weather were evident from about five miles outside of Mitchelstown.

In another incident, while Storm Rachel was at its most vicious, a tree fell on a jeep in Anglesboro, injuring a man. See inside for the full story on this, for readers' pictures of snow scenes around South Limerick and more on the effects of the arctic weather on Tuesday.

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