Fishing brothers drowned in ‘unspeakable tragedy’

An “unspeakable tragedy” fell upon an extended family when three brothers in their 40s who set off to work on lobster pots on a June morning in 2013 drowned after a catastrophic event caused their boat to sink, an inquest has heard.

Paul, 49, Kenny, 47, and Shane, 44, Bolger all natives of the fishing village of Passage East in Co Waterford died on June 12, 2013, after an EPIRB signalling device — which should have sent a beacon to the emergency services when their vessel ran into trouble — failed to go off.

They left Dunmore East in their fishing boat, the Dean Leanne, at 7am and the alarm was raised by their uncle after 5pm when they did not return.