The Co Offaly Coroner has been told that a 66-year-old woman, who had high alcohol levels in her system, drove 8km down the wrong side of the Galway to Dublin road before being involved in a fatal crash.
The head-on collision happened between 2pm and 3pm on 28 June last year.
An inquest into the death of Helen Gonoude from Killeigh, Co Offaly, was also told that she had failed to stop her car despite numerous efforts by gardaí and other motorists to get her to turn around.
Mrs Gonoude, who had never driven on a motorway before, was returning from a visit to her son's house in Rochfortbridge in Co Westmeath.
Instead of talking the exit for Tullamore on the Dublin to Galway road, she was seen shortly afterwards driving back up the Galway to Dublin road just outside Athlone.
Despite efforts by gardaí and passing motorists to alert her to the danger, she proceeded to drive eastward in what was the fast lane of the westbound motorway before a head-on collision occurred.
Mrs Gonoude died at the scene.
Delia Flaherty, who was in her 30s, from Carraroe, Galway, died a few days later.
