The Coroner’s Court of Dublin District learned on Monday about the tragic death of a 41-year-old man, named William Kenny, who died in what was described as a “terrible catastrophe”. William, who lost his life in an accident while chopping a tree in Portrane, Co Dublin, had over two decades of experience in this area.
On the day of the tragedy, William was accompanied by Brendan McGahern, both of whom had been cutting and felling trees as secondary jobs to their principal roles in construction. They were engaged in what McGahern referred to as a typical tree-felling procedure. He also outlined how they had meticulously prepared for the controlled descent of a pine tree, and had implemented strategies to make it topple away from the client’s residence by reducing weight on one side of the tree.
Unfortunately, the tree did not sway even when they extracted a block from the rear of the tree and inserted plastic wedges to induce a fall. The incident, according to McGahern, was an unprecedented display of tree behaviour. After hearing a sharp cracking sound from the tree, both men dashed for safety. Whilst McGahern dashed left, William rushed in the direction of the house.
On being struck by a part of the tree as it descended, McGahern temporarily fell but quickly got back on his feet. He then noticed William trapped underneath the approximately one-metre wide trunk of the fallen tree. Despite the arrival of paramedics, William was declared dead at the scene.
McGahern stated that this was an operation they had performed many times before in favourable weather conditions and with all the necessary equipment. He said, “It wasn’t our first rodeo.”
In a documented comment, Officer Aidan Barry from the Santry Garda outpost expressed that a substantial tree seemingly dislodged from its stump, rotated and tumbled in reverse. “There weren’t any evident hindrances that could have impeded his hurried retreat. The swiftness and mass of the descending tree resulted in the unfortunate demise of Mr Kenny,” he expressed.
A subsequent autopsy established that the cause of Mr Kenny’s death was severe head injuries, a consequence of blunt force trauma.
Presiding coroner, Dr Clare Keane, reassured the grieving family that the passing was likely “instantaneous”, and subsequently ruled the death as accidental.
“An indescribable misfortune, attributed to a routine task executed countless times under seemingly ideal meteorological circumstances,” she mentioned.