The 10-year-old girl who died from injuries she sustained in a crash that also killed her mother last Friday has been named locally as Irena Mereacre.

Irena was a pupil of Milltown National School, Milltown, in the parish of Drumlane, in Co. Cavan.

Her mother, Nell Raven, 53, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash between a car and a flat-bed van, on the R162, at Corclare, Shercock, Co. Cavan, at around 4.30 pm last Friday. Irena – known as Ira – was airlifted to Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dublin following the collision.

She died in the hospital on Tuesday afternoon. Ira appeared on The Late Late Toy Show on RTÉ last Christmas, where she represented Cavan in The Toy Show county parade.

In a newspaper article at the time, she was described as an ‘Irish dancer with a love for Sushi and Sanrio characters’. Her mother, Nell Raven, told the paper that she herself had been diagnosed with breast cancer in the spring of last year.

The family received support from the Cuan Cavan Cancer Centre. It was staff at Cuan who sent Nell an email about The Late Late Toy Show. Nell said Ira and her big sister Evey ‘ended up having a late night that night making a video to send to RTÉ’.

In her audition video, Ira talked about the various rooms in her dolls house, her paper puppets and her likes and dislikes. Proud Nell told how Ira was invited to audition to be a presenter and made it as far as the final 80 out of 4,500 applicants.

However, Ira was chosen to represent Cavan in the Toy Show’s county parade section instead, doing Irish dancing.

Nell Raven was originally from the UK but recently became an Irish citizen. The 53-year-old was a writer and journalist. She worked in London, Hong Kong and Pakistan. Whilst in Pakistan, she corresponded for UK nationals, including The Telegraph.

She was a graduate of Oxford Brookes University, where she received an MA in creative writing. Drumlane Gaelic Football Club, in Co. Cavan, extended their sympathies to the family in a post on social media.

They said they were saddened by the deaths of Nell and her ‘beloved daughter Irena’.

‘At this profoundly difficult time, our thoughts and prayers are with their family, friends, and all who knew and cherished them,’ the club wrote. ‘We stand in solidarity with you in your grief and extend our heartfelt support.

‘May Nell and Irena rest together in eternal peace. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílís.”

A GoFundMe fundraising page set up to support the family had raised more than €10,000 of a €20,000 target yesterday. It said: ‘The Milltown/Drumlane community are setting up a gofundme page to help support Alex Mereacre and his stepdaughter Evey Kemp.

‘Alex and Evey have tragically lost their wife and mother Nell and their daughter and sister Ira this week. The community are shocked and devastated by their loss but we can not begin to understand how Alex must feel.

‘We hope the donations received on this page will at the very least relieve some financial pressures on the family while they try to cope with this devastating loss.’

The crash is only one of a number of fatalities across the country since the weekend. Apart from the death of singer Glen Hansard in a motorbike accident in Dublin yesterday, a man in his 40s was also killed when his car left the road on the R462, in Ballymorris, Cratloe, Co. Clare, shortly after 7am.

A male driver was pronounced dead at the scene and his remains were removed to University Hospital Limerick where a postmortem examination will take place in due course.

On Sunday, off-duty Garda Sergeant Andrew O’Riordan was killed in a crash in Clare, in which the driver of the vehicle was also seriously injured.

Gardaí have renewed their appeal for anyone who may have witnessed the collision that led to the deaths of Nell Raven and her daughter Ira to come forward.

Any road users who were travelling in the area between 4.15 pm and 5 pm last Friday and who may have camera footage are asked to make it available to the Garda.

People with any information are asked to contact Bailieborough Garda Station on 042 969 4570, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.