Bodies of father and son (3) found in stream in north Dublin

The bodies of a man and his three-year-old son were discovered in a stream beside the Royal Canal in north Dublin on Easter Sunday in what is believed to have been a tragic accident.

The discovery was made at about 3pm in the Ashington Green area, adjacent to the Dublin-Maynooth rail line and the south bank of the canal in Ashtown.

They were named locally as Sean Sweeney, believed to be in his 30s, and his son Lee.

It is believed the father had been carrying the child over the stream when they fell into the water and drowned.

It is understood that Mr Sweeney, who lived close to the park at Ashington Green had intended to cross the canal at the ninth lock .

One local woman said some people used a gap that had been created by forcing back steel fencing beside the stream to cross the canal at the ninth lock to access the new apartment complex at Royal Canal Avenue.

No proper crossing

However, she said, there was no proper crossing or footpath at this point and reaching the north bank of the canal involved walking across the railway tracks. “It’s very dangerous but you do see teenagers doing it.”

Local Labour Party Cllr Brendan Carr said another young child fell over the same wall and drowned in the stream, which runs off the Royal Canal, a few years ago.

Gardaí say no details are available as to the cause of death, and it was not known how long the pair had been in the water, but a postmortem will be carried out on Monday.