Corkman likely 'awoke to a well-established fire' in his house, inquest hears
The Coroner's Court sitting in Bantry heard that Patrick O'Shea had been living alone for a number of years following the death of his father. File photo via Google Maps
A man who died in a house fire at his property may have been reaching for the phone after the electricity was cut when he was overpowered by fumes, an inquest has heard.
The body of Patrick O'Shea, 69, was discovered at his home at Crostera West, Glengarriff in Co. Cork on January 9 last.
The Coroner's Court sitting in Bantry heard from a neighbour, Patrick O'Sullivan, that Mr O'Shea had been living alone at the property for a number of years following the death of his father.
In a statement to gardaí, read out at the inquest, Mr O'Sullivan said he had been contacted on January 9 last by a brother of Mr O'Shea's who lived in Co. Tipperary, asking that he check on Patrick's welfare as he had not been contactable by phone.
Mr O'Sullivan said there was no answer when he knocked at the door and when he went to the rear he entered by breaking some glass.
He said the room smelled of burning and it appeared a fire had taken place and it had burnt itself out. Mr O'Sullivan said he then found Mr O'Shea's body behind a seat in the sitting room.
Another neighbour, James O'Sullivan, who coroner Frank O'Connell heard was the last person to see Mr O'Shea alive, said his wife did some shopping on behalf of Mr O'Shea and he had fixed an outside light for him the previous day, at which time he said Mr O'Shea appeared "very shook".
Garda Peadar Healy said he was alerted to the fire and the discovery of the body at 3.15pm on January 9 of this year and that he knew the deceased. He told the coroner that the walls inside were black from burning and that the scene had been preserved overnight for examination.
Garda Paul Holland of the Cork West Division Crimes Investigation Unit carried out that examination and he told the coroner there had been "a large amount of domestic refuse in different areas" of the two-storey detached property. There were handprints in the soot and Mr O'Shea's body was found in a crouched position.
He said the living room was the only area to show fire damage. Garda Holland said there were several night lights and boxes of matches in the room. Mr O'Shea had burns to the hands, face and head.
He had two different coloured boots on and his trousers were held up by blue string. The court heard the electricity had been cut as a result of the fire and the phone was on the floor.
Garda Holland said a fire break was created due to a pathway in the sitting room, and that it was this which limited the spread of the fire, adding it was miraculous the fire had not spread further.
Mr O'Connell surmised that Mr O'Shea had been "a hoarder" and both he and Garda Holland agreed he may have been looking for the phone after the lights had gone out. Garda Holland said: "It would have been pitch black at that stage."
The autopsy showed cause of death to be acute carbon monoxide poisoning and the coroner delivered a verdict of accidental death, with Mr O'Shea having likely passed away on January 8. "It's a good guess that he had fallen asleep and awoke to a well-established fire," he said, expressing his sympathies to Mr O'Shea's brother, who was in court.
