Gardaí hope postmortem will establish farm worker’s cause of death

Gardaí are hoping that a postmortem examination will establish the exact cause of death of a 73-year-old farmer who suffered fatal injuries in a farm accident in west Cork.

Tommy Hill was found with serious injuries in a cattle shed at his farm at Clounties outside Leap near Skibbereen at around 1.30pm on Monday by a family member after he failed to show up for lunch.

The emergency services were alerted and raced to the scene but Mr Hill was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was removed to Cork University Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Mr Hill had been feeding straw to 11 cattle which were housed in the shed and it was unclear whether he was attacked by one of five bulls in the pen or whether he fell and was trampled on by the animals who were in a confined space.

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Investigation

Both gardaí and the Health and Safety Authority were also notified and gardaí cordoned off the scene for a technical examination and will include the post-mortem results in a file that they will prepare for the local coroner.

Meanwhile HSA inspectors also visited the farm and spoke to family members as they conducted a separate investigation to try and establish exactly how the fatal accident occurred.

Mr Hill, who is survived by his wife, Noreen and adult children, Lorraine, John, Miriam and Rachel will be buried following requiem mass at St Mary's Parish Church in Leap at noon on Thursday.