Swimmer Páraic Casey was remembered today as an accomplished musician who always a had a smile on his face.
The 45-year-old from Passage West died at 1.30am yesterday from a suspected heart attack, with only 1km to go in his first swim of the English Channel.
This morning, donations were flooding into Friends of Marymount Hospice, the charity he had chosen to benefit from his swim, in his memory.
His wife, Riana, was on the support boat which accompanied him on the 34km swim, along with his training partners Lisa Cummins and Liam Maher from Sandycove swimmers.
They saw him get into difficulties after 15 hours in the water and hauled him into the support boat, but could not revive him.
His brother and Riana’s parents arrived in Calais this morning to support Riana, as they awaited the release of his body by authorities.
Páraic, the principal viola player with the Cork Symphony Orchestra, was doing the swim to raise funds for the Friends of Marymount Hospice, and the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
By this morning, more than 2,500 had been donated to the Friends of Marymount Hospice in his memory. One message on the donation site from William Casey read: “It was a pleasure to have known you. You are an inspiration to us all.”
Páraic worked at Fota Wildlife Park as part of the parks education team. A statement said he will be fondly remembered for his tours and talks, done with a smile.
“We will miss a man who showed great passion and enthusiasm for the park through his conservation work,” it said.