A 53-year-old farmer died from head injuries after falling through a shed roof to a concrete floor 15 feet below, an inquest heard.
Mr Reg Roper, of Inniscarra House, Inniscarra, Co Cork, had gone on to the roof of the shed to measure it for new materials on January 23rd last.
Mr Roper's son, Mr Reg Roper jnr, told Cork City Coroner's Court that he was just on his way out to call his father for lunch when he heard him fall.
"I heard a big crash and I ran to the outhouse and saw a hole in the roof. My father was lying on the floor. He wasn't conscious. He seemed to be having a fit and I tried to wake him."
Mr Roper later regained consciousness but was not at all coherent, said Mr Roper jnr, adding that his father was transferred to Cork University Hospital where he died on February 9th.
After hearing medical evidence, the acting Cork City Coroner, Mr Patrick Dorgan, returned a verdict that Mr Roper died from multiple injuries including skull fractures and lacerations to the brain.