The family of Father Michael O'Grady last night said they were "shattered" after an inquest jury returned a verdict of suicide on his death.
Parish priest of Tubber, Co Clare, Father O'Grady (56) died after his car went into the sea off Liscannor pier on April 4th.
Medical evidence at yesterday's inquest recorded no traces of alcohol in Father O'Grady's blood. The evidence was that he died from drowning.
After the verdict, a solicitor for the family, Mr Bill Loughnane, confirmed that the family would be seeking a High Court judicial review of the decision.
He said: "The decision is perverse and flies in the face of the evidence adduced."
The inquest jury, without leaving the room, returned its verdict after discussing the case for less than two minutes.
Mr Loughnane said: "The family saw the inquest as an opportunity to set matters straight. At the time of Father O'Grady's death there was a lot of misinformation circulated." He added that the family presumed from the evidence that a verdict of accidental death would be returned.
Eyewitness Martin Hennigar said his opinion was that Father O'Grady "was trying to reverse up the slipway" when his car went into the sea.
He said: "The car stopped and stayed stationary for a few minutes. I noticed that the front wheel started spinning. It appeared to be spinning in reverse."
Evelyn Shone said that after the car fell into the water "Victor ( her brother) and a few more men started shouting at him while he was still above the water but he made no reaction, which appeared very peculiar."
Witnesses told of desperate attempts to save Father O'Grady's life by breaking the back window of the car.
