Two men drowned in bid to rescue couple

"HANG on to those, Gran. I’ll be back in a minute."

Those were the final words of Jonathan Herlihy, the 22-year-old college student who drowned alongside 36-year-old businessman Peter O’Keeffe, after they saved two swimmers from rough seas off a West Cork beach last September.

An inquest into their deaths heard yesterday that Jonathan, from Glanmire, Co Cork, handed runners to his grandmother, Mary Herlihy, before dashing with Mr O’Keeffe, from Ovens, Co Cork, into heavy seas off Owenahincha beach on September 3 to save Lee Cooley and Cliona Murphy.