Connacht Tribune
Tragic end to Maam Turk trek for visiting hill-walker
A Dublin man, who had been a frequent visitor to Leenane, died while out walking alone in the Maam Turk mountains on St Patrick’s Day, an Inquest into his death heard on Friday.
Coroner for West Galway, Dr Ciaran MacLoughlin, was able to offer some comfort to the man’s family, by confirming with the pathologist that death had been almost instantaneous, and that he had not died from exposure overnight.
Patrick Casey (53), of Lucan, had been renting a house in the area for the previous two years, as he and his partner, Sheila Kilduff, enjoyed hill walking. She had not accompanied him on his last trip, however, as she had just had an operation.
He was last seen in Hamilton’s Bar, in the village, on March 16. He left after one pint at 9pm.
However, he had been in regular phone contact with Ms Kilduff the following day.
In a text message sent at 7.38am he told her that he was heading out on a particular walking route.
“I’ve food and clothes for several people,” he assured her.
At about 4pm, he sent another message saying that he was nearly off ‘the hill’ and would be heading to the pub again.
“Next stop – Hamilton’s,” he wrote.
She rang him at 9.43pm, but could not reach him and, presuming he was still in the pub, she went to bed. She became anxious when, the following morning, he had not responded, and did not answer any further calls.
She contacted a friend of theirs living in Leenane, who had not seen him in the village that day. More enquiries were made, but there had been no sightings, and she filled out a missing report in her local Garda station in Dublin. She then travelled down to Leenane herself to help.
In the meantime, the Galway Mountain Rescue Team had responded to the call from Clifden Garda Station, and they asked for the assistance of their Mayo colleagues.
They were on the scene before 11am, and split up into search parties.
Local farmer, James O’Neill, told the inquiry at Galway Courthouse that he was a member of the Maam Turk Walkers Club and, with his local knowledge, he also volunteered to help.
He searched the area known as King’s Valley, which is located at the back of the village, at the North Western end of the Maam Turks.
At 2pm, he saw something red in the distance. As he got closer, he saw that it was a person wearing a red jacket. He noticed that the man had severe lacerations to his head.
“He had obviously come off the cliff… it is very steep, grassy and, in wet conditions, it would have been very greasy,” he told the Inquest, estimating that the fall could have been from up to 300m.
“If he had slipped, he would slide down, and he was wearing waterproofs, so he would slide harder. There were no marks on the ground to know where he had commenced his fall… it is very unforgiving ground.”
Rory Sherlock, team leader with Galway Mountain Rescue, received permission from the Coroner and Gardaí to remove the body from the scene at about 4.45pm. He did so after taking pictures, and making notes, which were passed on to investigators.
Mr Casey’s remains were brought to the roadside in Leenane, where they were met by a doctor, who pronounced death. His partner formally identified the remains at 6.35pm.
Garda Owen O’Donnell, who had taken the initial call from Ms Kilduff and who had alerted the mountain rescue team, noted three large lacerations to the man’s face, and said that he appeared to have suffered a fractured skull.
The remains were taken to UHG for a post-mortem examination. This was performed by consultant pathologist, Dr Teresa McHale, the following day.
She confirmed significant external lacerations to the scalp, the largest of which measured 20cm in length. There were also two deep lacerations to the liver, which accounted for the large amount of blood found in his abdomen.
The Coroner, Dr Ciaran MacLoughlin, put a query to her – that had come from Ms Kilduff – he asked if death had been quick or had the delay in searching for him contributed to his death.
Dr McHale said that Mr Casey would not have been conscious after his fall, due to the significant blow sustained to his head.
“He was not out there (alive) all night,” she added.
The Coroner returned a verdict, in accordance with the medical evidence, that death was caused by hypovolemic shock (blood loss), due to a haemorrhage, caused by lacerations and fractured ribs sustained in an accidental fall.
He complimented the work of Mr Sherlock and his team from Galway Mountain Rescue and Garda O’Donnell.
“I’ve a report here that is equivalent to military precision; 18 in all were involved in the search, all with documented duties,” he said.
“We are greatly appreciative of the work you do, it is very skilful and hazardous. You do bring comfort to people they are found alive, but also bring some degree of closure for the next of kin when they are not.”
He offered his sincere sympathies to Mr Casey’s partner, his children, and other family members, on the circumstances of his untimely, sudden, and tragic death.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
