This article is from page 8 of the 2007-06-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
A 71-YEAR-OLD Cooraclare man lost his life when he was knocked down crossing the road in Lissycasey last year, an inquest has heard.
Father-of-five Sean Gallagher was killed at Decomade, Lissycasey, on the night of April 17, 2006, while on his way to a dancing session, En- nis Coroner’s Court was told last Wednesday.
Sean’s son Shane said he had been at his parents’ home in Kilmacduane, Cooraclare that evening. He said his father, a retired carpenter, left the house to go dancing at the Boree Log pub in Lissycasey at around 9.15pm.
Shane passed that pub at 10pm and saw that a crowd had gathered. He continued on his way home and later heard that there had been an accident, involving a man from Cooraclare.
Shortly after he arrived home, two
gardai arrived at the front door with the devastating news that his father had been killed.
The inquest heard that Patrick Keane went to the Boree Log that night arriving at around 9.55pm. He got out of his car and said he saw Sean Gallagher getting out of his car, on the opposite side of the road. He was standing near the pub when he heard a loud bang behind him.
“T started running. I knew when I
saw him he was dead. People started coming out of the pub,” he said, in his deposition.
Sergeant Frank Naughton went to the scene of the accident that night. He said the body of a man was on the ground on the road on the Ennis side of the pub. He was told he had been struck by a car as he crossed the road.
Pathologist Dr Peter Fawl carried out an autopsy on the body of Mr Gallagher at Limerick Regional Hos-
pital. He said his opinion was that Mr Gallagher died due to shock, second- ary to multiple injuries, consistent with having been involved in a road traffic accident.
Coroner Isobel O’Dea suggested a verdict of accidental death and the jury agreed with this recommenda- tion. She expressed sympathy to the Gallagher family. ““To come on and see the accident must have been hor- rific,” she said.