Gardaí hope the findings of a postmortem will establish what happened to a fisherman whose body was recovered from the sea off west Cork on Tuesday.
The man, named locally as Michael Harrington (50s) from Cahermore, Beara, went fishing alone on Monday on his 10-metre half decker, Sea Hunter, off Beara.
He was known to fish until night-fall, but when he failed to return home, his parents raised the alarm and neighbours began a search at first light on Tuesday.
Some neighbours spotted debris floating in the water off Black Ball Head, west of Castletownbere, at around 7.30am. Sea conditions were calm at the time.
READ MORE
The Irish Coast Guard Marine Rescue Co-Ordination Centre at Valentia tasked the Castletownbere RNLI all-weather boat, Annette Hutton, to the scene. Rescue 115, the Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter, was sent to assist the search operation, which also involved local fishing vessels and smaller craft.
The crew of a small punt located Harrington in the water at around 8.20am and notified the RNLI boat, which took him on board and returned to port at Castletownbere.
Harrington was pronounced dead on the pier in Castletownbere by a local GP. His body was transferred to Cork University Hospital, where a postmortem was due to take place later on Tuesday.
Gardaí hope the results of the postmortem will help establish what happened to Harrington, who was an experienced fisherman. He worked on fishing vessels in the 1990s, but had worked ashore for a number of years before returning to fishing last year when he bought the Sea Hunter.
There was no sign of the boat near where Harrington was recovered. However, local fishermen continued a search and noticed a diesel slick between White Ball Head and Black Ball Head.
The Sea Hunter was found sunken between the two headlands and attempts to lift the boat are expected to be made later this week.
The boat will be examined as part of an inquiry by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board, which will attempt to establish what happened in the lead-up to the man’s death.
Gardaí will also prepare a file for an inquest into Harrington’s death at Cork Coroner’s Court.
