Whilst competing in the race for the Ardlee Plate at the Louth Hunt and Ardee Meeting at Mullacurry on Saturday, May 15 1897, the mare Balrath fell, throwing her jockey, E. Reilly. The accident happened at the up bank on the far side of the course opposite the grandstand. The fall itself was not of great consequence, but in getting up, Balrath stood upon his rider and, breaking several of his ribs, drove them into his lungs. Reilly succumbed to his injuries within minutes
He left a wife and ten children to mourn his untimely death.
Directly the sad circumstances became known, Mr Richard Kavanagh, of the Conyngham Club, Dublin, opened a subscription for his widow, and a considerable sum was contributed.
Reilly had ridden for Mr Gerald Walker for several years: Walker described the ill-fated jockey as a quiet, well-conducted man. In December, Reilly had ridden the stable's Royston Crow to beat Æsop in the Quorn Steeplechase at Leicester.