This article is from page 21 of the 2011-03-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 21 JPG
A POLISH man who drowned after falling into the sea near Kilkee last May had fished in the area over “30 times” previously, an inquest into his death has heard.
A verdict of accidental death was returned at Clare County Coroner’s Court last Wednesday, in the case of Andrej Marek (29) who died after falling into the sea at the Bridges of Ross on May 16, 2010.
Mr Marek, who had been living in Nenagh, had been out fishing with a friend at the time.
Sea conditions were rough while it had also been very windy on the day the accident occurred, the inquest was told.
After a two-day search of the area, Mr Marek’s body was recovered from the sea near Kilkee.
The inquest heard from Ian Coll who had been fishing with friends near the Bridges of Ross when he noticed two men fishing at a piece of flat rock along the cliff face.
Mr Coll described the area as a “dangerously exposed” piece of rock particularly when the sea is rough. “The sea was particularly rough that day,” he said.
Mr Coll said that it looked like one of the men was going to lower ledge on the cliff. He added that after the man made his way down the cliff he was “nowhere to be seen”. Mr Coll told the inquest that a Polish man who was with Mr Marek came over and asked them for help. Mr Coll said he rang the emergency services and the Coast Guard helicopter arrived after 30 minutes.
Wladyslaw Filar was fishing with Mr Marek on the day in question. Clare County Coroner Isobel O’Dea was told that Mr Filar has since returned to Poland. Mr Filar’s deposition was read out in court by Insp Tom Kennedy.
According to Mr Filar’s deposition, he and the deceased had fished off the Bridges of Ross “30 times” before the accident occurred.
He said that Mr Marek had been standing 15 metres away from him on a cliff, five metres above the water.
Mr Filar then said that he saw his friend, who could not swim, in the water. Mr Filar threw a life buoy towards Mr Marek. He added that he had not seen how Mr Marek had ended up in the water.
Mr Filar recalled it had been a very windy day and the waterfalls running of the cliffs were very strong. He added that it had not been raining.
In his deposition, read to the court by Insp Kennedy, Garda Ken O’Day said that when he arrived at the scene, he spoke with Mr Filar, who he described as being in a very distressed state.
Garda O’Day said the initial search for Mr Marek was called off at around 6.30pm.
The inquest heard that a search and rescue team recovered Mr Marek’s body from the sea and taken ashore at Kilkee Rescue Centre on Monday May 17, 2010.
Autopsy findings were presented in court by Dr Peter Fawl on behalf of Dr Stephen Finn. Dr Fawl stated that that Mr Marek had died as a result of drowning.
Giving her verdict, Ms O’Dea said that Mr Marek had been pronounced dead at Kilkee Rescue Centre on May 17, 2010.
She said that given Mr Filar’s evidence that the deceased had been familiar with the area where he died, the appropriate verdict was one of accidental death. Ms O’Dea acknowledged the work of the rescue services and gardaí.
Insp Kennedy described Mr Marek’s death as a tragic accident and said that he may have either slipped or have been “blown into the water”.