Cork father drowned trying to save son and his girlfriend after freak wave

A father drowned while trying to save his son and his girlfriend after they were swept out to sea by a freak wave last summer, an inquest heard yesterday.

Coroner for West Cork Frank O’Connell heard evidence that Barry Ryan, aged 51, who was living in Baltimore, Co Cork, died from drowning near the coastal village’s iconic Beacon landmark on June 30.

Mr Ryan’s son, Barry Davis Ryan, aged 21, a student at Cork Institute of Technology, whose body was recovered from the sea 10 days later, and Barry’s girlfriend, Niamh O’Connor, aged 20, from Glanmire on the outskirts of Cork City, also drowned in the same incident.

Assistant State pathologist Margot Bolster said Mr Davis Ryan and Ms O’Connor both sustained traumatic head and brain injuries which would have been a significant factor in their deaths.

The causes of death were outlined yesterday as the three inquests were jointly opened and adjourned.

Barry Ryan dived in to try and save the stricken couple.

Mr O’Connell said he opened the inquests at the request of Mr Ryan’s partner, Ann, and would hear them in full next February, before expressing his sympathies to all affected by the tragedy.

“It was such an unlucky thing for a freak wave to happen and to create such havoc,” he said.

Garda Martin Ashe told the inquest that the group, which included Mr Ryan’s teenage daughter, was fishing off rocks east of Beacon Point on the evening of June 30 when a freak wave struck, sweeping Mr Davis Ryan and Ms O’Connor into the sea.

Garda Ashe said Mr Ryan dived in to try and save the stricken couple.

As the tragedy unfolded, Mr Ryan’s teenage daughter scrambled up the rocks, flagged down two passers by and the emergency services were alerted.

RNLI crews rushed to the scene and recovered the bodies of Mr Ryan and Ms O’Connor from the sea a short time later.

Despite medical efforts, both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Mr Davis Ryan’s body was recovered 10 days later following a massive diving search and recovery effort, bolstered by volunteers divers who arrived in the area following an emotional appeal by his mother, Ann.

His body was found in about 12m of water less than 200m from where he was last seen.

Mr Ryan was a son of retail legend, Arthur Ryan, 80, a founder of Irish retail giant Penneys.

Friends of Ms O’Connor organised a fundraising table quiz for the RNLI in Sarsfield GAA Club on Tuesday evening on what would have been her 21st birthday.