The Irish victims, their families and their stories
Michael Murphy
Paul Murphy told of looking at hundreds of dead bodies on Khao Lak island in Thailand in a desperate search for his brother Michael in the days after the tsunami.
He and Michael (23) were very close and were in regular contact, Paul, now aged 23, said. Michael, the eldest of five children of Michael and Teresa Murphy of Knockbawn, Blackwater, Co Wexford, had left Ireland in November 2003 for Australia.
Paul said he had visited Michael in Australia for a time and his brother had told him in December 2004 that he planned to go to Thailand.
On Christmas Day 2004, he phoned Michael who said he was in Khao Lak, was on his own and planned to go to Bangkok the following day.
When the tsunami hit on St Stephen's Day, Paul said he was very concerned and made many efforts to contact Michael, but got no response. Inquiries established that Michael had not used his ticket for Bangkok.
On December 29th Paul flew to Thailand and spent days in a fruitless search for Michael during which he looked at "hundreds of bodies".
In May 2005 the remains of Michael were identified from dental records and fingerprints.
Expressing his deepest sympathy to Paul and the Murphy family, the coroner said he could not imagine what it was like looking for his brother in such circumstances.
Lucy Coyle
Lucy Coyle's last contact with her family was on Christmas Day 2004, but the exact circumstances of her death remain a mystery, the inquest heard.
Lucy and her English boyfriend Sean Sweetman (30) perished as a result of the tsunami which struck Phi Phi island on December 26th but there are no details of their last hours. The 29-year-old accountant from Glenageary had been living and working in London, her mother, Jean Coyle, Tinahely, Co Wicklow, said in a statement to the inquest.
Lucy and Sean had arrived on Phi Phi island for a holiday on December 24th. Ms Coyle said Lucy phoned about 4pm on Christmas Day and said she and Sean had been looking for a bungalow on the beachfront as theirs was some way back and, through a friend, they had got one.
Ms Coyle said Sean had told his parents on Christmas Day that he wanted to go scuba diving the following day. Lucy had also sent a text message on Christmas Day. Des Mullan, Ms Coyle's partner, told the coroner that no one saw what happened to Lucy and Sean. Lucy's brother-in-law, Derek Ryan, spent 10 days in Thailand trying to find her and had brought out her dental records. These eventually led to the identification of Lucy's body in April 2005.
Eilis Finnegan
Water started lapping around the ankles of Eilis Finnegan and her boyfriend Barry Murphy within minutes of their arrival on Phi Phi island, Thailand, on St Stephen's Day, 2004.
The couple had just got off a ferry and were eating breakfast at a beachfront cafe when they noticed water approaching them in what Barry first thought was a fast tide, he said yesterday.
They grabbed their bags and began to run. The last time he saw Eilis alive was when she was running 10-15 feet ahead of him. Barry said the water was moving fast and he ran into shops near the beach. The pressure of the water caused the walls to collapse and he only managed to get out when it subsided. He helped carry a six-year- old boy to safety.
When commended by the coroner, he said: "I only did what anybody would have done."
Barry then began a search for Eilis but had no success until January 3rd when he saw pictures of bodies posted on a computer website and identified Eilis in picture 455. Identification was confirmed the following day from her dental records, which were brought to Thailand some days earlier by Garda Sinead Ní Mhuircheartaigh, Eilis's lifelong friend.
Barry and Eilis had planned to go to Argentina but could not get flights. Travelling on standby tickets, they arrived on Phi Phi at 10.15am on December 26th. Barry said he believed the tsunami occurred about 10.30am. They had seen no news and were not aware of weather forecasts.