An inquest into the death of a young man who died following a crash at a Kerry motorsport event four years ago is underway.
22-year-old, Eoin McCarthy from Kildee, Dunmanway, county Cork died following the incident during the Killarney Forest Rally on the 20th of February 2022.
The inquest which began this morning, has seen footage of the incident and heard from the navigator in the car at the time.
Eoin McCarthy died after the Honda Civic rally car he was driving went off course at a bridge and flipped into a stream near Castleisland on stage four of the rally.
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster told Coroner Philip Comyn, Mr McCarthy died after suffering a cardiac arrest, which led to brain damage due to being suspended upside down and submerged in water.
Dr Bolster said Mr McCarthy would have very rapidly lapsed into unconsciousness and would not have suffered from there on in.
Cork City Coroners Court also heard from the cars navigator Daniel O’Brien.
He said the car filled up with water quickly after entering the stream, and that he had tried to free Eoin McCarthy by pulling him out of the car, but said he was stuck.
He said Eoin McCarthy gave a rattling cough when his face was out of the water but his chest was not moving so Mr O’Brien said he pinched his nose and ‘gave him breaths’, before doing CPR and shouting his name at him.
The inquest also heard concerns about weather conditions on the day with heavy rain and wind in the wake of Storm Eunice.
The inquest, which is scheduled to last four days, continues tomorrow.