A FORMER Cavan minor and under-21 goalkeeper was one of two young men who drowned in a tragic accident in a lake in the county.
Simon Delaney (21), from Killinkere, Virginia, became trapped when he went to the rescue of a party of six people whose boat overturned on Lough Gallon, a small lake popular with local anglers, on Wednesday evening.
The other man was named locally as Matthew Gibbons (20), a courier from Dorset Street, Dublin, who had also attempted to rescue the people struggling in the water.
His cousin Pamela O’Rourke, who left flowers at the lakeside, said the family were devastated. Mr Gibbons’s brother died of adult sudden death syndrome two years ago. “We can’t believe he’s dead. He only went up to Cavan yesterday to visit a friend,” she said.
Mr Gibbons was waiting on the lake shore when the boat capsized. His body was recovered from the water by Garda divers yesterday morning.
Fellow rescuer and neighbour Anthony Brady said he and Mr Delaney were driving past the lake on the way to a football match when they saw a group of six people floundering in the water at about 6.45pm on Wednesday.
Mr Brady (27) said: “As we were driving by, he just said, ‘pull up there quick’. I didn’t realise what was going on because you couldn’t see cars there.
“So I pulled in and got out of the car and I saw Simon jumping in the water. There was about six people in the water at that stage. We didn’t see the boat capsized or anything. They were all struggling to get in. Simon went out to the guy that was struggling the most.”
Mr Brady recounted how his friend had gone two or three times to rescue those involved, but the effort had taken its toll.
“Simon had to let go of his lad because he was pulling Simon down. Simon was coming back in and you could see that he was just losing energy.
‘‘ I couldn’t get out to him. It was silty water. You couldn’t swim in it. I couldn’t get out to him. He went down then and was down about five minutes, along with the other lad under the water.”
Two other members of the Killinkere GAA club arrived on the scene immediately, but it was too late to rescue either Mr Delaney or Mr Gibbons.
Mr Delaney was taken to Cavan General Hospital but he died a short time afterwards.
Locals said those who were rescued were a Dublin family who had been living in Ballyjamesduff for about five years. A barbecue and several fishing rods that had been abandoned were taken away yesterday.
Mr Delaney was on his way to watch a junior match for the local GAA club when he saw the people in the water.
He appeared to have become stuck in the reeds near the bank of the tiny lake which is only three hectares in size but extends to a depth of 60 metres in parts.
Mr Delaney had played minor and under-21 for Cavan and was on the Cavan senior panel this year. He had been training to be an electrician, but had been laid off three months ago and was living at home.
Local parish priest Fr Anthony Fagan described him as a “fun-loving, gentle person who was well-respected among his peers within the community”.
His removal takes place at St Ultan’s Church, Killinkere, this evening at 6.30 with funeral Mass tomorrow at 11am.
