A woman who drowned after going for a swim at a favourite beach has been recalled as ‘a lovely lady and a wonderful artist’. Patrick O’Connor, coroner for the District of Mayo, made the comments after opening an inquest at Swinford Courthouse into the death of Cathy Hughes. Despite efforts to save her, the artist and grandmother, who was in her 60s, died in a drowning accident at Old Head beach, Louisburgh on July 21.
At a brief hearing on Monday, the medical cause of her death was given as asphyxia due to drowning. Ms Hughes’s mother was Maura Kelly, a cousin of world-famous actress Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, whose grandfather, John Kelly, emigrated from Newport to the US in the late 1800s. Mr O’Connor said: ‘On the day of the All-Ireland hurling final, Cathy went for a swim.
‘Whatever happened, she died from asphyxia due to drowning.’ The coroner expressed his deepest sympathy to her son, William, and daughter, Isabelle, her grandchildren and the wider Hughes family ‘on the loss of a lovely lady and a talented artist’. No other evidence was given, and the substantive inquest hearing was adjourned to a later date when additional evidence will be available.
A post mortem was carried out at Mayo University Hospital following her death. Ms Hughes had been living in Salthill, Galway City but grew up in Westport. She was a regular visitor to Old Head where she enjoyed swimming.
Born in the late 1950s, she had been involved in the Irish arts and crafts si.