Farmer, 82, fell 40 feet off cliff trying to rescue a calf, inquest hears

An inquest has heard how an 82-year-old farmer fell some 40 feet off a cliff while trying to rescue a calf.

A number of witnesses told how Anthony O’Sullivan, of Gortahig, Allihies, in West Cork, was struck by a rope that snapped while it was pulling the calf and that he appeared to wobble as he tried to regain his balance before he fell from the cliff edge at Reentrisk on the afternoon of October 7 last.

One witness, neighbour Monica Van Elferen, told a sitting of the coroners court in Bantry: “We made eye contact briefly before he fell off.”