An inquest in to the death of a Killarney teacher who fell while drinking with friends in a local wood has delivered a verdict of accidental death.
The inquest into his death heard from the man's friends about an evening spent drinking and listening to music around a fire in a raised area near a sloped embankment in the woods.
25-year-old Damien Lyne from Deenagh Farm, Cleeney cycled to Flesk Castle Woods also known as Coleman's woods on the evening of the 9thth of April, 2020 to socialise with a group of his friends.
Witnesses told coroner Aisling Quilter how they all drank cans of beer and some whiskey as the evening progressed and that Mr Lyne became unstable on his feet falling a number of times.
At one point he left the fire area to go to the toilet and fell down the slope.
They found him with his head resting on a rock and assumed he was asleep as they could hear him snoring despite some of them seeing signs of a small bit of blood in his hair.
Together they carried him back to the fire and two of the group agreed to stay with him as the others left for home.
A short time later friends Jamie O'Donoghue and Seamus Gallagher told the inquest that they failed to rouse him and realised something was wrong and contacted gardai and emergency services
The inquest heard that ambulance arrived and attempts were made to resuscitate Mr Lyne to no avail and he was pronounced dead at 4am.
Medical evidence was given by pathologist Dr Margot Bolster who said that Mr Lyne's head injuries were consistent with those from a fall and that there was no question of a blow to the head other than by reason of falling and hitting a rock.
She said cause of death was hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy caused by severe head trauma and loss of blood to the brain. A secondary cause of death was acute alcoholic intoxication.
The coroner Aisling Quilter thanked Mr Lyne's friends for their evidence and offered her condolences to his family following his tragic death.
She returned a verdict of accidental death, from injuries due to a fall.
