Postmortem finds Waterford brothers died from ‘hypothermia and drowning’

The three brothers who lost their lives while fishing off Dunmore East on Wednesday died from “a combination of hypothermia and drowning”, according to a Garda spokesman.

Paul (49), Kenny (47) and Shane Bolger (44) died after their 20ft wooden punt, the Dean Leanne, capsized. They had left Dunmore East several hours earlier to set lobster pots off Brownstown Head.

Postmortem examinations were carried out yesterday evening by Dr Fergus McSweeney at Waterford Regional Hospital. There was a small amount of water in their lungs, which indicates drowning, but “it could have been hypothermia, or probably a combination of both”, the Garda spokesman said. “Sometimes you can’t tell which it is.”

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Dean King signs the book of condolences for the three Bolger brothers. Photograph: Mary Browne

An operation to try to recover the men’s boat was to take place last night, depending on tidal patterns, to allow it to be examined as part of the inquiry by the Marine Casualty Investigations Board. The punt was described as “fairly intact”.

Shock
The shock was evident yesterday in Passage East in Co Waterford as neighbours and relatives gathered to offer sympathy and support to the family of the three Bolger brothers.

“She just adored them boys, that’s all,” their uncle Joe Whitty, who first raised the alarm when the men didn’t return, said yesterday. He was referring to his sister, Margaret, the men’s mother, who returned from a visit to Lourdes in recent days.

"Three dinners ready for them yesterday evening, 'what time will they be in, they're late' and all this kind of thing," added Mr Whitty. "It was such a happy house."

Funeral Mass
A funeral Mass for the three brothers will take place tomorrow in St John the Baptist Church, Crooke, Passage East. Shane and Kenny Bolger will be buried in Crooke Cemetery, while Paul will be buried in Faithlegg Cemetery.

The Bolgers turned to lobster fishing some years ago when drift-net fishing for salmon on the Suir and other rivers was banned. That ban put pressure on coastal communities such as that in Passage East, Mr Whitty said.

“Everybody fished on the estuary here before, but the salmon season is stopped now and that’s had a major impact on the village.”

He said the cost of fitting out and licensing larger fishing boats results in more people going out on smaller craft, such as the 20ft timber punt being used by the Bolgers on Wednesday.

Shane lived in the Crooke area of Passage East with his wife Lucy, son Callum, and a daughter Martha. Shane and his son were “joined at the hip”, his uncle said.

50th birthday
Paul lived in nearby Cheekpoint with his partner Patricia and their daughter Rachel. Kenny had lived at home with his mother since the death of their father Johnny some years ago.

Paul’s twin sister Paula was due to return home in the coming weeks for their joint 50th birthday, but was instead making her way from the Netherlands for the funerals, to join her surviving brothers Michael and Anthony and sister Lynda.

The bodies of the three men were recovered before 6pm on Wednesday, about half a kilometre from the coastline in Tramore, after being found by the Coast Guard search and rescue helicopter. The scene was also attended by the lifeboats from Dunmore East and Tramore.

The men had set out fishing on Wednesday morning from Dunmore on the Dean Leanne. The alarm was raised by Joe Whitty at about 5pm that evening when he realised they hadn't yet returned. All were experienced fishermen and were wearing their flotation devices, leading to suspicions they may have died from hypothermia.