Woman died after fall from fourth-floor window

A pensioner tragically died when she fell through a fourth-floor window that she was cleaning, an inquest heard.

Sarah Phelan, aged 82, was washing a windowsill of her flat at Avondale House, North Cumberland St, Dublin 1, on the evening of July 8 last year when the accident happened.

Gardaí believe she was attempting to clean pigeon droppings off the windowsill when she fell.

Neighbour Mary McDonnell told Dublin Coroner’s Court that she was sitting in her flat in the block opposite Mrs Phelan’s when the accident happened at around 9pm. She said she could see Mrs Phelan washing the windowsill of the top-floor flat.

“A few minutes later, she was hanging out of the cable wire shouting ‘help, help’. I ran around but when I got there she was on the ground,” she said.

She had fallen four floors to a small garden area directly below the flat window. Neighbours rushed to her aid and were performing CPR when paramedics and gardaí arrived. Garda Kieran Brady said she was unresponsive at the scene. Mrs Phelan was taken to the Mater Hospital where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

The postmortem found that she died as a result of major internal injuries sustained in the fall, including a transected aorta.

Garda Brady said gardaí are satisfied there was no foul play involved.

The court heard that Mrs Phelan was fastidiously clean and had a dislike of pigeons congregating on her windowsill. Garda Brady said a cloth was found on the windowsill. When asked by coroner Dr Brian Farrell if he believed she had fallen across the windowsill while cleaning it, Garda Brady said yes.

The coroner expressed concern that the window ledges in the flat were very low and the windows could be opened fully. The family told him that the flat, which is a Dublin City Council property, has since been given to a family with young children.

Dr Farrell returned a verdict of accidental death and said that he would write to the housing department of the city council to alert them to the issues raised about the windows at the inquest.