THE TRAGIC death of a young Wexford man at the Quarry Lake, Carrigfoyle in June has been recalled at an inquest in Wexford.
Allen Murphy (19) of 9, Pike View, Barntown, was swimming at the lake on June 24th with his friends, Stephen Gilhooly and Jordan Molloy when he got into difficulty as he tried to make it to the island in the centre of the lake.
Jordan Molloy’s statement was read out by Superintendent Pat Conlon, in which he said both he and his friends were jumping off the rocks from around 7:40 p.m. swimming to the island in the lake.
Around half way across Jordan (15) went underwater swimming. He said Allen was struggling to stay afloat and grabbed onto his shoulders, pushing him down into the water.
Jordan swam towards the island, losing sight of his friend, before getting back into the water and swimming over to get Stephen’s phone and ringing the emergency services.
Stephen Gilhooly (13) said he reached the quarry with Allen and Jordan at around 8 p.m. He said he was running out of breath as he crossed the lake and decided to float on his back. He noticed that Allen was struggling and told him to float on his back too.
“I saw him go down. I made it to the island swimming on my front. Jordan passed me out and made it to the island before I did. We were looking at where he went down and calling his name…Jordan called for help using my phone. I stood on the island; I couldn’t get back.”
He recalled being airlifted to a nearby field after some time and being taken to Wexford General Hospital.
Allen’s mother Mary said she identified her son’s body at 07:35 the following morning at Mulligan’s Funeral Home.
Garda Ian Doyle said members of the RNLI, Wexford Sub Aqua Divers and the Coastguard arrived, followed by the Rescue 117 Coastguard helicopter. Garda Doyle said people from the locality also arrived to help in the search.
For the full story see this week’s Wexford Echo.
