‘It seems one went to help the other’ – family heartbreak at brothers’ deaths
:: Experienced siblings had dived in quarry for many years
THE heartbroken family of two brothers who died in a diving accident have said they don’t know what happened under the water but initial indications are that one was trying to help the other when the double tragedy occurred.
Fergus Brophy (42) and his younger brother Philip (34) had gone to the Portroe Dive Centre near Nenagh, Co Tipperary, to try out a new underwater scooter.
The water at the old quarry, now converted into a dive centre, is up to 40m deep and is used as a diving and training centre by divers from all over the country.
At the family home in the quiet and rural townland of Lough in Co Laois, close to the town of Portarlington, Fergus and Philip’s family are trying to come to terms with the loss.
The two men are survived by their parents Dinah and Seamus, brothers James and Patrick, sister Emma, and Fergus’s wife Michelle. Fergus and Michelle lived in nearby Ballybrittas, while Philip lived in the family home in Lough.
“They were both very experienced divers and had dived at that location for many years,” their mother Dinah said.
“We got the call from gardaí. We were out at the time. We got an awful shock,” she added.
“We don’t know what happened yet, only what we’ve heard in the news and read in the papers,” said Patrick.
“It seems one went to help the other. We just don’t know yet,” said the men’s father Seamus.
James Brophy explained that he was with Fergus when he first got the bug for diving while they were on holiday in Mexico around 10 years ago.
“It was one of those things you do on holiday. You pay your $80 or whatever and you go on a trip to do a dive. I wasn’t that into it, I felt a bit claustrophobic. But Fergus loved it, it left an impression on him and he got the bug for it,” said James.
“Then he took it up as a hobby when we got home, and his love for it rubbed off on Philip and he started it too,” he added.
“Fergus was the second eldest, and Philip was the youngest. He was the baby,” Seamus Brophy explained.
Early indications are that Fergus surfaced at the dive centre on Sunday at around 1.30pm but then lost consciousness and died.
He was taken from the surface of the water and Philip’s body was then recovered by divers from under the surface.
Members of Killaloe Coast Guard, who were returning to their base from another callout, immediately responded to the alert at the quarry.
The Coast Guard search and rescue helicopter, based at Shannon Airport, was also tasked to respond to the emergency.
“They both had great experience at the diving, and went on dives in places like Malta and Egypt,” said Dinah.
“Philip was big into his fitness. He spent eight years in Brazil and had run triathlons there and did an Ironman event in Nice,” she added.
Not only did Fergus and Philip share a love for diving, they also both worked as engineers for Vodafone.
“Philip had been working from home recently because of the Covid lockdown,” said Dinah.
“They were great lads. They were never any bother. It’s of some comfort that they were with each other when this happened,” said Seamus.
Gardaí and the HSA are investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the two men, but are treating the incident as a tragic accident.
‘It’s some comfort they were with each other when this happened’