A passionate trout angler's first day of the season trying out the Mayfly ended in tragedy on Saturday when he drowned after his boat struck underwater rocks in Lough Mask, County Mayo.
Mr John O'Hora (53), originally from Cloonaughill, Charlestown, County Mayo, a maintenance engineer with Team Aer Lingus in Dublin, clung to the partly capsized boat for about an hour. But he lost his grip and drowned when a wave struck.
His friend, Mr Joe Walsh, a married man in his sixties, from Tubbercurry, County Sligo, survived when he landed on an island which he described to his family later as "no bigger than a small house".
A massive search operation, involving an Air Corps helicopter, got under way after a man on the Tourmakeady shore spotted Mr Walsh waving his arms in distress and raised the alarm.
The body of Mr O'Hora, a single man, was discovered a short time later washed up on the western shore.
His shocked companion, a father of four, was recovering in the intensive care unit of Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar yesterday. Mr Walsh's wife, Maeve, said yesterday that her husband had told her they had been trolling for trout, after earlier fishing with Mayfly, when they struck submerged rocks.
"Both John and Joe managed to hold onto the boat for about an hour," Mrs Walsh said.
"They were certain they were going to make it. Then a wave came and the boat keeled over. John disappeared into the water. John found himself on a small island, which only consisted of a few rocks and shrubbery, and shouted and waved towards the shoreline to raise the alarm."
Neither angler had been wearing a lifejacket. Mr O'Hora had removed his earlier because it was chafing his chest.
During a meal break, Mr O'Hora had been showing his friend a catalogue of inflatable jackets and said he was going to buy one when he returned to Dublin.
Mrs Walsh said her husband and the deceased had been lifelong friends and had spent over a month stripping and painting the boat in preparation for the Mayfly. Mr Walsh told rescuers he had a mobile phone in his waterproof jacket as the pair clung to the boat but could not get his hand to it.