A Dublin man who drowned around midnight at Portrane beach was not a strong swimmer and may have been swept out by a wave, an inquest has heard.
Warren Spain (22), Queen's Street, Dublin, went with friends to Tower View Bay on Portrane beach on the evening of July 18th last year. They had a few drinks and then went into the water where Mr Spain soon disappeared.
Maureen Spain told Dublin City Coroner's Court yesterday that her son was not a strong swimmer and rarely went into the water because he had a perforated eardrum.
James Lewis-Cullen told the court yesterday that he noticed his friend go a little deeper than the rest and then a wave came and Mr Spain went under and did not reappear.
Ms Spain said she had seen her son before he went to the beach. "The last thing he said to me was 'I love you Mam, I'll see you later' . . . . He told me he was going to the beach and he'd call me later," she told the court.
The inquest heard that Mr Spain had been drinking in Dublin city centre that afternoon before going to the beach.
Garda John McCarthy told the court that Mr Spain went into the water at about midnight.
Michael Comiskey, who had also been swimming, said none of the others knew their friend was not a strong swimmer. "When he went missing, we started screaming out his name and telling him it wasn't funny. We thought he was just having a laugh," he said.
After a few minutes of searching the water, Mr Lewis-Cullen found his friend face down in the water. Resuscitation was attempted but Mr Spain was pronounced dead at Beaumont Hospital soon after. A postmortem found he had consumed a lot of alcohol. Coroner Dr Brian Farrell returned a verdict of death by misadventure.
The court heard that a few hours before Mr Spain drowned, one of the group had had an accident on the rocks and was taken by ambulance to hospital after he shattered a bone in his leg.
Dr Farrell commiserated with Ms Spain on the death of her only son. "Sometimes I find it difficult to find the right words to express condolences in the face of such a tragedy. This is one of those times."