The body of one of the Cork brothers who drowned last weekend was washed ashore at Fethard-on-Sea, Co Wexford, at lunchtime yesterday. Mr Denis Kelly (44), was the father of three young children.
Mr Kelly and his brother Brendan (42), the father of two young children, went to Bally cotton in east Cork last Saturday, to put a twin-hulled, 15m speedboat they had been preparing through trial runs.
They were joined by a friend, Mr Joe Ryan. The three were from the Ballyvolane area on Cork's north side. It is understood that they had eaten lunch locally before taking the boat out.
On the day, conditions in Ballycotton Bay were choppy with strong winds and the fibreglass boat was flipped over by a freak wave about a mile from shore. The three occupants were hurled into the sea and tried to swim towards shore.
Mr Ryan was the strongest swimmer and was ahead of the brothers. He continued looking back to see that they were safe. Swimming against a strong tide and in bad conditions, he noticed at one point that the Kelly brothers had disappeared from view behind him. It took Mr Ryan two-and-a-half hours to swim to shore and when he got there he had to climb a steep cliff and run half a mile to raise the alarm.
There followed an intensive sea search involving local trawlers as well as lifeboats and a marine rescue helicopter.
Yesterday, relatives and friends went to Fethard-on-Sea to identify the body and a further search by local boats and a rescue helicopter was begun in the hope that the second body too would be washed up nearby.
The close-knit Ballyvolane community has been monitoring events closely since the tragedy. One of the Kellys' neighbours said last night: "At times like this we come together and do our best for our neighbours. The Kellys and their friend went out for an innocent afternoon's pleasure. No one ever thought it would come to this - it really is an appalling tragedy. We just don't know what to say." As the new search for the second body got under way, it emerged that the drowned man had been swept by the tides and currents along the coast for up to 50 miles.
Last week, a man from Ardmore in Co Waterford was drowned when he fell into the sea. Members of the Kelly family went to the seaside town to identify the body - and found it was not one of the brothers.
During last weekend's search for the Kelly brothers their boat was found smashed against the rocks on a rugged inlet near Ballycotton.
After that, one of the rescue team involved said: "It's sad to say that now we are only looking for bodies."