This article is from page 7 of the 2007-05-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 7 JPG
AN 81-YEAR-OLD retired farmer from Sixmilebridge who drowned in February may have slipped and fallen into the river, an inquest heard last Ni sle @
Ennis Coroner’s Court heard that the body of Tom McInerney was found, some time after he went missing from his home, at Ballysheen, Sixmilebri- dge, on February 26 last.
McMclInerney was well known and well respected in the locality, where he looked after the local church.
The inquest heard that Tom was at home with his wheelchair-bound nephew Michael, that evening.
The two watched television and Michael went to bed at 7pm.
He woke several times during the night and noticed that his uncle hadn’t brought him tea, as was the norm.
He realised early in the morning that his uncle wasn’t there and the televi- sion was still on in the sitting room.
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He searched for ‘Tom, but could not find him. He went out to the yard and called his name, but did not get a re- sponse.
A neighbour, Eddie Russell, said
Michael phoned him at around 8am and said that his uncle had not brought in his tea, as he usually would.
They searched the house, farm- yard and sheds, before extending the search to the local area.
Mr Russell said he saw a body in the river, close to Mike Gleeson’s pub, a short time later. He identified the body to a garda.
Pathologist Dr Elizabeth Mulcahy carried out an autopsy on Mr MclIner- ney’s body the following day.
She noted there were two small cuts to the forehead and apart from that, there were no other obvious external injuries.
“In my opinion, the cause of death was drowning,” she said.
She said Mr McInerney had “‘signif- icant heart disease”, adding, “it was possible he could have had a cardiac event, that may have caused him to NIB DAKOmssopUh ome
County Coroner Isobel O’Dea said the appropriate verdict was an open one.
“It may well be that Mr MclIner- ney suffered a cardiac incident and slipped,” she said.
She said Mr McInerney was a “*well- known member of the community” whose loss was deeply felt.