A mother, son and daughter drowned yesterday after they got into difficulties during a lunchtime swim in a tributary of the River Blackwater in Castletownroche, near Mallow, north Cork. Olivia Kelleher reports.
Their deaths, and the death of a young man in the Shannon at Co Longford yesterday, bring to five the number of people drowned in inland waterways in the last two days.
The mother who died was named locally as Ita Noonan (49), a secretary at Fermoy Garda Station, Co Cork. She recently moved from Freemount, Charleville, Co Cork to Castletownroche with her son, David (23) and daughter, Emma (21), a student. Gardaí last night paid tribute to Ms Noonana as a very popular colleague who had a great way with people.
A canoeist came across a body on the Awbeg River at 12.45pm yesterday. He rushed to the house of parish priest Fr Pat Scanlan and the alarm was raised. The emergency services were alerted and the bodies of Mrs Noonan and her son were recovered from the water by the fire service a short time later. Emma Noonan's body was taken from the water shortly after 8.30pm last night.
The bodies of mother and son were brought to Cork University Hospital where postmortem examinations were due to be carried out last night. Emma Noonan's body was expected to be transferred to the hospital yesterday evening.
Fr Scanlan, who attended at the scene, said locals were devastated by the tragic loss of mother, son and daughter.
"Obviously everyone is shell-shocked. It is a little small area which wouldn't have experienced a tragedy like this. A canoeist came across what he thought was the body of a man at 12.45pm. He came to my house which is close to the river and we alerted the gardaí and the emergency services. The body of the man was taken first and then the woman. Both bodies were visible. This would have been a swimming area but it can get very deep in areas. This is just such a tragedy."
Local Labour TD Joe Sherlock said the deaths brought a gloomy air over the community on what had previously been a glorious Bank Holiday Monday. The incident is being treated as an accidental drowning. Two towels were found near the shore so it is thought the trio went in for a swim and incurred problems. The river is about 10 feet deep at that point.
Also yesterday a man in his 20s drowned in the Shannon at Ballyleague, Lanesboro after he got into difficulties while swimming with a group of friends. His body was taken from the water at 7.30pm and brought to Roscommon General Hospital. The victim, a Latvian, had been living locally.
On Sunday a 25-year-old man, Aidan McDonnell, drowned in the River Moy at Ballina, Co Mayo.
Irish Water Safety (IWS) has urged people to take extra care whilst engaging in water-based activities. The IWS says casual users are most at risk - these are normally not people who are active in their particular activity but will be tempted out by the excellent weather.
John Leech, the chief executive, said swimmers should be aware that temperatures at this time of year can be quite cool. "Cold is one of the greatest causes of drowning."