Circumstances of tragic drowning may never be known

The circumstances surrounding the drowning of a Connemara fisherman may never be known, an inquiry into his death was told last week.

In what was a second inquiry into his death, members of a jury were told by the Coroner for West Galway, Dr Ciarán MacLoughlin, that questions raised by the man’s family, who were a ‘seafaring family’, gave cause to call an expert witness.

The body of Michael Mulkerrin (47), from Carna, was found at Rinville, Oranmore, on November 23, 2017, just hours after a search operation was launched when Mr Mulkerrin failed to return to the Docks having left on the morning of November 22.

Mr Mulkerrin’s boat was found near Silverstrand in Barna and his family had previously said it was their belief that his body would not have been carried by the current on that particular night to the location in Oranmore where he was eventually found.

The inquest heard from the housemate of Mr Mulkerrin, Danielle Butler, that the pair had been house sharing in Coillte Merlin, Ballybane, and had shared a taxi to town on the morning of November 22.

“[Mr Mulkerrin] said he had a few things to do around town, like going to the Credit Union, and then he was going out on the boat.

“I work in Dock 1 [bar on Dock Road] and he would usually come in after he returned. He didn’t come in that evening,” said Ms Butler.

Ross Forde, a volunteer with the RNLI, said the alert was first raised with them around 9pm on the night in question and told Dr MacLoughlin they had launched in the direction of Rinville, given their technology had indicated this was where the tide was going.

The rescue helicopter later found the boat at around 11pm and volunteer with the RNLI, David Badger, was first to inspect the vessel, turning on the lights but finding there was no sign of Mr Mulkerrin on board.

“His phone was in the cabin and the boat was ticking over, and the engine was in neutral,” said Mr Badger.

There was some dispute over whether or not the engine was running, but Mr Mulkerrin’s father, Marcas Mulkerrin, said he believed this account was correct as it was his son’s practice to leave the boat running when checking lobster pots.

While the day had started calm, the inquiry heard that conditions had begun to deteriorate and that wind speeds reached somewhere between Force 5 and Force 8.

Martin Oliver of the RNLI noted that there were a number of lobster pots hanging overboard and that there was a rope caught around the propeller.

“The boat was facing with its back, the stern, into the weather and wind,” said Mr Oliver.

A decision was taken to bring the boat back to the docks where Mr Oliver said Marcas Mulkerrin and his son, Patrick were waiting.

The search was suspended for the night at around 2.30am due to worsening conditions but was recommenced at 8am the following morning.

A body was discovered by RNLI crew at Rinville at around noon on Thursday, November 23, when those aboard the Aran Lifeboat saw what they believed to be yellow oil skins on the beach.

Garda Nicholas Delaney got to the scene at 12.45pm where he witnessed the body of a man, dressed in yellow oil skins.

Dr Dan Murphy pronounced the man dead at 1.24pm.

Due to questions raised in the previous inquiry, Kieran Lyons of the Marine Institute in Oranmore was commissioned to carry out a simulation establishing the possibility for Mr Mulkerrin’s body to have gone overboard at Silverstrand and to have reached Rinville by the next morning.

The family had said they didn’t believe it possible, due to the fact that Mr Mulkerrin was still wearing wellington boots when his body was discovered.

Marcas Mulkerrin said he felt the boots would have acted as “an anchor”, dragging his son to the ocean bed – particularly as he wasn’t wearing a life jacket when found.

Mr Lyons stated: “It was plausible, though not inevitable, for a body to be transported to the location where Mr Mulkerrin was found”.

A simulation was used to establish an assertion by Mr Lyons that to have reached Rinville, Mr Mulkerrin’s body could not have been less than three meters from the surface.

“Mr Mulkerrin was not wearing a life jacket and so we cannot assume his body remained above the surface,” he added.

A post mortem examination was carried out by Consultant Pathologist at UHG, Dr Thomas Fitzgerald, on November 24.

Dr Fitzgerald said there was no evidence of any other injuries and said his findings were “death as a result of drowning”.

The Coroner, Dr MacLoughlin told the jury they would have to be considerate of the fact that they did not know how Mr Mulkerrin ended up in the water.

“What we don’t know is how he got in the water – whether it was as a result of falling over, that is purely speculation.

“We don’t know if he went in intentionally – that would be speculation. There is no evidence of a struggle onboard [the boat] and there is no evidence of a struggle on the body,” he outlined.

The foreman of a seven-person jury returned a unanimous decision of “drowning, with an open verdict”.

Dr MacLoughlin said the inquest could not establish an exact location of where the death occurred but would record it as Galway Bay.

“The finding of an inquest is that Michael Mulkerrin died in Galway Bay on November 22, 2017. The cause of death, in accordance with the medical evidence, is drowning, with the qualification of an open verdict,” said Dr MacLoughlin.

He extended his sincere sympathies to the family of Mr Mulkerrin and thanked the jury for carrying out their civic duty.