Dad waiting at station thought son missed his train - the truth was devastating

A dad waited at a train station to collect his son - unaware the teenager had drowned at sea.

Luke McAuliffe, 19, switched from his regular bathing place to one around 15 miles north because the water in the former was "too shallow," his inquest was told. It was his first time swimming in that spot - in Balbriggan, County Dublin - where water was "choppy" and large waves were "very high" on the day of the tragedy.

The inquest yesterday at Dublin District Coroners' Court heard Luke was due to catch a train some time afterwards and meet his dad Alan at Dundalk railway station in County Louth. Alan waited there for his son and assumed he'd missed his train or fallen asleep on it when he did not arrive on the scheduled service. When Luke, an apprentice electrician, didn't get off the next service and Alan was unable to track his location on Snapchat, the dad called the police.

Luke's body was later removed from the water off the coast of Balbriggan, and a jacket with a phone and wallet recovered from the sea further up the coast were subsequently identified as belonging to the deceased.

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Coroner Clare Keane yesterday recorded a verdict of accidental death, noting a postmortem had confirmed Luke had died as a result of drowning with no alcohol or drugs in his body. Offering her condolences to relatives of the deceased, the coroner said she could only imagine their "absolute shock" at the teenager's death.

Giving evidence at the inquest, Alan said his son had previously been going swimming for a couple of weeks in Malahide, County Dublin on his own. However, the father said his son did not like swimming in Malahide because the water was "too shallow."

As Dublin Live reports, he believed his son may have gone swimming in Balbriggan because the gym in the town which he sometimes attended was small and might have been too busy. He described his son as "a fair swimmer" who had "no fear of water" and would jump into the sea on the spur of a moment by stripping down to his boxer shorts.

Alan said Luke was a typical 19-year-old who was full of life who was "absolutely loving" working as an apprentice electrician. At the time of his death, the deceased was attending training college near Howth Junction in north Dublin. Alan said he was unaware of any struggles in his son's life and noted that Luke had a girlfriend and was planning a holiday and his future.

Another witness, Gerard McKenzie, told the hearing that he was concerned about seeing a swimmer in the water near the lighthouse at Balbriggan Harbour. Mr McKenzie said he was a regular swimmer, although not in Balbriggan, and he would not have gone bathing at the location because it was windy and the water was "choppy" with large waves that were "very high" where Luke was. He recalled that there was nobody else swimming in the area on the day. It is thought Mr McKenzie alerted emergency services on April 30, 2024, when Luke got into difficulty.