A homeless Dublin man who often chose to live rough on the streets rather than stay in hostels died from a combination of hypothermia and pneumonia, an inquest has heard.<\/p>\n
Paul Murray (62) of no fixed abode but originally from Grangegorman, Dublin 7, passed away on September 13, 2025 at St James\u2019s Hospital in Dublin where he was brought by ambulance after being found \u201ccold to the touch\u201d but conscious and breathing in a city centre area.<\/p>\n
The deceased\u2019s sister, Joan Byrne, who formally identified her brother\u2019s body to garda\u00ed, said she had not seen him for quite some time before his death.<\/p>\n
She told a sitting of Dublin District Coroner\u2019s Court that her brother was not doing good as he was \u201cliving on the streets and taking drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had no real life and struggled for years,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Byrne explained that her brother had got involved in drugs from a young age, although he had periods where he stopped using drugs including an extended time when he lived in Switzerland with a partner.<\/p>\n
The inquest heard he fell back into taking drugs like heroin and crack cocaine after returning to Ireland in 2011 when that relationship ended and he spent some time living in a car park near St Stephen\u2019s Green.<\/p>\n
Another sister of the deceased, Mary Byrne, said her brother was living on the streets \u201cby choice\u201d as he had received support from homeless services and had been offered an apartment at one stage by the Dublin Simon Community.<\/p>\n
She described her late brother as \u201ca nice man and a charmer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Byrne said he did not want to move into hostels during the summer when it was warm, while it also helped him to save his money.<\/p>\n
She said her brother also did not like hostels because of \u201crun-ins\u201d he had with other people staying in them.<\/p>\n
While he often had \u201cplenty of money\u201d and had previously worked with Dublin City Council, Byrne stressed that her brother \u201cdidn\u2019t look after himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know how he made it to be 62, to be honest,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
The coroner Clare Keane said medical records showed Murray had been found on a street with suspected hypothermia and he was severely unwell on arrival at St James\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n
His temperature was recorded as 31.9\u00ba C which Keane described as \u201chighly abnormal\u201d, while his blood pressure was also very low.<\/p>\n
The inquest heard he died after suffering a number of cardiac arrests.<\/p>\n
While a postmortem showed evidence of cocaine in the deceased\u2019s body, Keane said the cause of death was a combination of hypothermia and pneumonia.<\/p>\n
Offering her condolences to Murray\u2019s sisters, the coroner recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.<\/p>\n
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