flooded when the River Slaney<\/a> burst its banks in the Wexford town in the early hours of the morning. Their apartment was on the first floor of a complex in the Quay area, but the waters had already submerged the first floor and there were real fears it would reach the electric box in their home.<\/p>\n![\"Parents](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0_JS394427527.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Parents Kasey Grant and Stephen Kirwan with baby Ollie Micheal Kirwan, who were all rescued by boat from their apartment in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
The Slaney team deployed an empty boat so the traumatised family could all get in together \u2013 as well as bring equipment they needed for the infant.<\/p>\n
Elayne told RTE Drive Time on Tuesday evening that she went to help her daughter Kasey when her new born son became upset in their apartment in Enniscorthy as the storm raged overnight.<\/p>\n
Mrs Grant said: \u201cWe were all settled, and we got a phone call from the Guards at half past one to remove my car from outside the building.<\/p>\n
\u201cI parked it a good bit away, came back, and we settled down. And the baby woke at about half four, five o’clock for a bottle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI looked out the window and we were absolutely, completely trapped in, we didn’t even know that it was going to happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were on the first level. The water was coming in at the ground floor door. We were at the first level, but it was coming up where all the electrics and everything were as you come in, the ground floor is the first apartment there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was petrifying for his mam and dad. It really was. His dad was amazing. He stayed calm. But his mam was quite upset, because obviously, she’s got a little boy, and she got really afraid with him. It was frightening.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family then got in contact with local independent councillor Jackser Owens via a friend \u2013 who contacted Slaney Search and Rescue.<\/p>\n
Councillor Owens told The Irish Mirror: \u201cThe lady rang me in the apartment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were very distressed at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of worry, the water coming in and you might not get out. But thanks be to God for Slaney Search and Rescue, who had a boat there and took them out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just unreal for that family.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a great help to have Slaney Search and Rescue there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs Grant said the family got a quick response from the rescue team.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cWe gathered everything. They said they would send an empty boat so we could bring a lot of things for the baby, all his things he needed. \u201cWe were lucky that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rescue boat arrived just after 9am \u2013 and the family was brought to safety.<\/p>\n
Mrs Grant said: \u201cSlaney Rescue were amazing.<\/p>\n
![\"Slaney](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0_JS394418024-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Slaney Search and Rescue come to the aid of another family who were stranded in raising flood waters in Enniscorthy<\/p>\n
\u201cThey put me into the boat first and then handed me the baby. The baby was in his car seat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI held on to the baby while my daughter Kasey got in next and Stephen helped both of us in.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then they got Stephen in and brought us down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked how the tot was during the drama, Mrs Grant replied: \u201cHe slept the whole way through it. He was okay.\u2019<\/p>\n
And first time mam Kasey also paid tribute to Slaney Search and Rescue.<\/p>\n
![\"Members](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0_JS394406087.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Members of Slaney Search and Rescue working in floodwater in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. Photo: Niall Carson\/PA Wire<\/p>\n
She told us: \u201cWe would like to thank Slaney search and rescue for the work they put in for us. I would also like to Thank Councillor Jackser Owens who went above and beyond for our family and for the phone calls afterwards checking in on us!<\/p>\n
\u201cI also want to thank my partner and mother for being so supportive of myself and the baby during this traumatic experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso one of our cars worth \u20ac20,000 has been destroyed over the lack of a flooding system in Enniscorthy, which shouldn\u2019t be the case as there\u2019s no support or insurance that covers flood damage.\u201d<\/p>\n
And she said the whole incident was terrifying.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI was petrified. As a first time mam with a three week old son it\u2019s any parent’s worst nightmare experiencing something so traumatic.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the start of it all we didn\u2019t think we would be able to get out at all until Jackser contacted Slaney Search and Rescue and within half an hour we had to pack up and get down to the boat before the water reached the electric box at our front door.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll sorts of emotions went through me and I just wanted my son and my family safe.<\/p>\n
![\"Members](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0_JS394407216.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Members of Slaney Search and Rescue working in floodwater in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. Hundreds of schools are closed, and tens of thousands of people are without power as Storm Chandra batters the island of Ireland. Picture date: Tuesday January 27, 2026.
\nPhoto: Niall Carson\/PA Wire<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to stay brave and focused for the safety of my son, it wasn\u2019t for me – everything I do is for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shane O\u2019Connor, Chairman of Slaney Search and Rescue said he was approached at the scene by Councillor Owens looking for help for the young family.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe had the people in the boat within 10 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was heart wrenching. The woman in the boat was inconsolable that they were having to leave their residence.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuckily, they have family in the area and have somewhere to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: <\/strong>Sign up here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tot Ollie Micheal Kirwan, his parents Kasey Grant and Stephen Kirwan along with grandmother Elayne Grant were all…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307535,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,18,13,14,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5602,5,7,8,2451],"class_list":{"0":"post-307534","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-featured-news","12":"tag-featurednews","13":"tag-headlines","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-latest-news","17":"tag-latestnews","18":"tag-main-news","19":"tag-mainnews","20":"tag-met-eireann","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-top-stories","23":"tag-topstories","24":"tag-wexford"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115971326005385128","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Slaney](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0_JS394417903.jpg\")
<\/p>\n