Victim of Mayo island tragedy is named locally

A road traffic accident has claimed the life of one of the last residents of a declining island off Achill.

Christy Henry, a single man in his sixties, was pronounced dead after being rescued from a submerged car on tiny Innisbiggle –which lies between Achill Island and the Ballycroy mainland – last night.

Gardai are investigating the circumstances of the tragedy.

Achill Coastguard was tasked to the scene around 8.30 p.m., after the car which Mr. Henry was driving veered off the road into a small lake.

Rescue 118 helicopter was also tasked and two ambulance crew attended at the scene along with a local doctor and a number of islanders.

Mr. Henry, like his now deceased parents Paddy and Brid (known as Baby) before him, was an activist for the survival of the tiny outpost.

In the 1980s, the Henry family amongst others campaigned unsuccessfully for the provision of a hovercraft service from the island to Bullsmouth on Achill Island.

In 1988 he participated in an RTE television programme, ‘The Parting,’ which documented his emigration from the island due to the lack of local employment.

Following Christy Henry’s untimely death, there are now only eleven residents on ‘Biggle, a sharp plunge from a peak of 162 recorded in 1926.

A post mortem examination is to be conducted at Mayo University Hospital, Castlebar, over the weekend following which Mr. Henry’s remains will be released for his funeral ceremonies.