A woman and her three-year-old daughter drowned when their 4x4 vehicle was swept away in a torrential flood as they were crossing a ford near their home in west Cork last year, an inquest heard yesterday.
Both Orla O'Driscoll (34) and her daughter, Mura, died from cardiorespiratory failure due to drowning when they were caught up in the flood on the stream near their home at Milleens Farm, Derryduff, Coomhola, five miles from Bantry last September 16th.
Ms O'Driscoll was coming home from Bantry in her Mitsubishi L200 4x4 with Mura and six-year-old son Fionn at about 2pm. They were caught in the flood trying to cross a concrete ford on the stream leading to their remote farmhouse in the Borlin Valley.
Finbarr O'Driscoll, at home from work because he was sick, had rung his wife to warn of flooding as it had been raining heavily all morning.
Fionn told gardaí in a statement: "We came around the corner at the bridge. Mum told us to hold on tight, that we were going to cross the stream. It made it a little way across, the jeep moved, then went on its side, then went against the rock.
"Mum helped me out the window of the jeep. I walked along the jeep and got on to the bank. My sister was too scared to come with me. Mum told me to get help," said Fionn, who raced to a neighbour's house only to find no one there.
"I walked back down to where Mum and Mura were, the jeep was upside down," said Fionn who then walked all the way back to the main road, where he was spotted by local woman Vicky Flynn. He told her "his mother and sister had been taken away in the flood".
Ms Flynn's father, Neilius, arrived on the scene and went back up to the ford. He saw Mr O'Driscoll on the other side of the stream but they couldn't hear each other because of the raging flood. Mr O'Driscoll said the flood was the biggest he had ever seen on the river. A major search was launched.
Garda Bill Nyhan said the rain eased off during the afternoon and as the flood abated, the Mitsubishi was found caught in rocks some 100 metres downstream.
Mura's body was found at 5.45pm about a quarter mile downstream, while Ms O'Driscoll's body was found further downstream at 6.30pm. Mura was rushed to Bantry General Hospital but attempts to revive her failed.
Garda Nyhan said the ford was the only way to cross into Milleens Farm but that on the day in question, some 27.3mm of rain fell which turned the stream into a dangerous torrent. There were times when people didn't cross the stream because the flood was too high.
Sgt Pat Donovan said he examined the O'Driscoll vehicle and found it had been badly damaged when buffeted against rocks in the ravine downstream. Its structure had been distorted and the roof panel had been crushed down some 16 inches.
He believed the vehicle was roadworthy before the accident but its clearance off the road was just 13 inches, which meant it would have been safe to cross a stream of that depth but going into water any deeper posed a danger of it being swept away.
The thick tyres would also have given it added buoyancy, said Sgt Donovan, but it would not have been safe to cross the ford when it was in heavy flood "in any type of vehicle".
West Cork coroner Colm Quigley extended sympathy to the O'Driscoll family on "the terrible tragedy", while condolences were also expressed by Supt Liam Horgan.
The O'Driscoll family thanked the gardaí and others who assisted in the search.