Family’s tributes to ‘beautiful’ boy, 2, killed playing on toy tractor in Limerick hit-and-run as tragic details emerge

SHOCKED family and friends of a two-year-old boy who died in a hit-and-run have paid tribute to the “little soul”.

Toddler Peter Mulcaire received catastrophic injuries as he was hit by a jeep on Saturday around 3.50pm in the Abbeycourt area of Rathkeale, Co Limerick.

He was playing on a toy tractor at the time of the fatal collision.

The toddler, who leaves behind his mum Kerrie Mulcaire, father Jim Harty and big brother Jim, had only just started at a local preschool last week.

His mum posted photos of her smiling blonde-haired son, adding: “Peter’s first day of preschool 2026.”

Friends replied to the post with messages of sympathy for her loss.

One woman wrote: “Rest in peace little angel.”

Another stated: “I’m so sorry for your loss, rest in peace beautiful boy.”

Another friend added: “Rest in peace beautiful angel, a lovely baby gone to heaven too soon.”

His aunt Teresa Harty paid tribute to her nephew and said: “He was the just a special blonde boy who had skin like butter.

“He meant the world to us all, his uncles and aunts. He was just a loveable boy, he was too good for this bad world.

“He was his mother’s life, she thought the moon and stars of him. Golden boy she called him.

“And his daddy was his best friend and his older brother Jim, they were three best friends.”

Jessie Hehir, who is a cousin of the toddler’s mother Kerrie, said: “Heartbreaking thinking of my cousin and uncle Peter’s family on the loss of their little boy. Rest in peace baby Peter.”

Another friend of the family shared a moving post on Facebook which read: “Never been sadder, an innocent little baby. God rest his little soul.

“This world can be cruel at times. It’s so heartbreaking thinking of my husband’s niece Kerrie and her husband Jim and extended families on the loss of their beautiful little baby.

“RIP little angel. So sorry for your loss.”

A post-mortem exam was carried out as Gardai continue their investigation.

Cops said the jeep “did not remain at the scene” and the male driver, in his 30s, was arrested at another location “on suspicion of driving under the influence of an intoxicant”.

The man was held “for the purposes of providing a blood/urine sample” and released “pending analysis” of the sample.

Fr Eamonn Fitzgibbon from St Mary’s Parish, Rathkeale described Peter’s tragic death as a “terrible shock” for the entire community.

Speaking to RTE, he said: “This town is a town that has experienced a lot of sadness down the years.

“It’s a community that rallies, that comes together, supports each other and I’m very confident that they’ll do that in the days, the weeks, and the months ahead,”

“But it’s a terrible time. It’s literally beyond words the grief that is here today.”