The deaths of two Co Cork brothers in separate tragedies just over six months apart were recalled at successive inquests in Mallow, Co Cork, yesterday.
Coroner Dr Michael Kennedy said it was tragic for a family to lose one child but to lose two children in just over six months was extraordinarily sad.
Hugh and Joan O'Connor were joined by their surviving family members, Patrick, Pauline, Anthony and Deirdre, at the inquests into the deaths of their sons Martin (23), who was killed in a road traffic collision last May, and Edward (25) who died in a house fire in November.
Martin O'Connor was returning from a day out in Killarney with his friends, Jamie O'Sullivan and Roy Henderson, on May 1st and had just got out of a taxi at Mr O'Sullivan's house at Rathduane, near Millstreet, when he was hit by a car at about 9.30pm, the inquest heard.
Mr Henderson said they had been drinking in Killarney since 3pm and each had had nine or 10 pints of cider before catching a taxi home. He was by the side of the road when his friend was hit.
"I heard a thud and saw a body flying 10 or 12 feet up in the air like a rag doll," he said.
The driver of the car, Robert Falvey, said he was travelling at about 50mph (80km/h) when he suddenly spotted a man in the road in front of him about 12 feet away.
"The minute I hit the brake, he hit the windscreen," he said. The inquest heard how Mr Falvey stopped and began searching the area and found Mr O'Connor in the garden of Mr O'Sullivan's house. The emergency services were called but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Garda Mark O'Connor said a forensic examination of the crash scene revealed that Mr O'Connor was thrown more than 50 metres by the impact. He said the findings confirmed Mr Falvey's account that he was travelling at about 50mph.
Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said that Mr O'Connor, who had a blood alcohol level of 267mg per 100ml, died instantly from shock and haemorrhage due to the tearing of his aorta. A jury returned a verdict of accidental death.
The O'Connor family also heard how their son Edward died from smoke inhalation after fire broke out at the rented house he shared with his brother, Patrick, at Ruhill, Boherbue, while he was trying to light a fire with some petrol on November 23rd.
Edward's girlfriend, Geraldine Smith, said he had told her there was no need to get firelighters and began to light the fire with some petrol when the petrol canister caught fire. It spread to his clothes and then to the house and he was overcome by the fumes.
She raised the alarm and Edward's father managed to get him out of the house but he died at the scene. The inquest heard that he died from carbon monoxide poisoning due to smoke inhalation, and a verdict of accidental death was returned.