A witness at an inquest into the accidental death of a former Donegal GAA star has spoken of finding his body lying face down in rocks near the pier in Donegal Town last year.
A coroner's court in Donegal Town, conducted by Dr Denis McCauley, found that Martin Griffin, of 9 Silverwood Road Ballybofey, died due to accidental drowning on November 6 last year.
Mr Griffin, 67, was a well- known Donegal GAA star in the 1970s and 1980s.
A deposition from Rachel Hegarty from Buncrana told the court that she had gone to Donegal Town with her partner Gary O’Connor for a holiday on the weekend of November 5/6 last year.
They went for a walk on the pier at around 11.50am when they saw what looked like the body of a man lying face down into the rocks.
The witness said the couple got “an awful fright”.
Her deposition added that she ran to the garda station and told of what she had seen.
Another deposition from Pat McCrea, a friend of the deceased, said he rang Martin Griffin at 11am on November 5 telling him he would collect him as it was Mr McCrea’s 61st birthday.
Martin Griffin said he would get the Express bus.
They were in McCafferty’s Bar in Donegal Town, and Martin was in “good form”. There was nothing out of the way.
At 10.30pm Martin Griffin said he was going home.
Mr McCrea’s deposition said that he had a bed for the deceased, but Mr Griffin said he did not need one.
The inquest heard that Mr McCrea rang his friend on three occasions on the following day.
“I thought he was out of credit," the deposition said.
In another deposition, Garda Louis Browne told the court he was on mobile patrol with Garda Shaun Rogers when they got a report of a body being found at the Quay on November 6.
The gardai arrived at 12.30pm where a man’s body had been found and they were instructed to seal off the area.
“We covered the body before the arrival of the doctor," the deposition said.
Garda Browne added that the body had been found lying face down at 12.17pm and photographs were taken of the deceased.
The Garda added that he found a wallet on the deceased which belonged to Martin Griffin whose body was now lying on his back.
“I was able to identify the body of Martin Griffin as he was known to me.”
The garda added that at 3.20pm a priest, Fr O’Toole, arrived and administered the last rites.
The body was then removed to Letterkenny University Hospital.
CCTV footage showed Martin Griffin leaving McCafferty’s Bar and going for a walk towards the pier. There was nobody else in the area.
A deposition read on behalf of Dr Ali Hadi said he was working for Now Doc in Mountcharles on November 6 when he got a call about a body being found at the pier in Donegal Town.
He said he examined the body at 1.15am and there was no sign of life. Death was pronounced at 1.17am.
Pathologist Katrina Dillon of Letterkenny University Hospital said the deceased had cuts to the head chest and stomach in keeping with immersion in water. There was also evidence of cirrhosis of the liver.
The cause of death was due to drowning.
The pathologist said the deceased may have fallen from the pier into the water or fell against something before he entered the water.
There were 177mcgs of alcohol in the deceased’s system, with a slight level of intoxication.
It was “not an enormous amount of alcohol”.
Coroner Dr Denis McCauley said Martin Griffin’s co-ordination would have been a little impaired but not too much.
A verdict of death by drowning was recorded by the court.
Coroner Dr McCauley said he had known Martin Griffin for many years.
“He was well known in the Twin Towns, and I found him to be a gentleman when I met him professionally or on the street”.
Dr McCauley said he was not aware of Martin Griffin’s fame as a Donegal GAA footballer.
“He never mentioned it and he was a very humble person."
The coroner extended his condolences to the Griffin family on the sad passing of Martin.
Sergeant Stephen Lynch extended sympathy on behalf of An Garda Siochána.
The Sergeant said he knew Martin Griffin personally and played for Sean MacCumhaill’s along with the former Donegal full back.
Sergeant Lynch said Martin Griffin always looked after the younger lads on the team.
“I was not near as good as Martin”, he added.
"Very few were."
READ NEXT :
Warning in place for six counties as Met Eireann forecasts temperature plunge
Double Christmas bonus to open to thousands more people that never got it before
Simple washing machine trick that could save you a small fortune on electricity
Gardai tell how they thought they were going to die in terrifying shootout
Shocking moment cyclist deliberately knocked off bike by motorist in Dundalk
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter
