'He turned round to me again... and he just went under the water.'

On this day in 1979,  J.G. Farrell, author of Troubles, The Siege of Krishnapur and The Singapore Grip, died in bizarre circumstances, apparently falling into the sea from a rock he was fishing from at the remote Sheep's Head peninsula in West Cork. He had been living there for a while, enjoying a quiet life, working on his next novel, and relaxing by fishing for his dinner. Nobody knows exactly what happened on that day, but the weather was rough, with a storm brewing, and the likeliest explanation is that either a freak wave or a sudden strong gust of wind swept him into the water.
   By chance, an acquaintance who was out walking with her children and a friend came on the scene just after Farrell had fallen, and saw him in the water: 'We could see that he'd got boots on,' she recalled, 'and I was always telling them you mustn't go near the sea with boots – it's dangerous. I turned round to Sarah [her daughter] and she said, "Quick, Mummy, he's fallen in the water." And so I said I would go down, and that put them into hysterics. We could see him in the water – just his head. I said, "I'm going to go down to reach to him", but the children said, "No, you'll fall in." We called to him to take off the boots. But he didn't even attempt to take the boots off. He was quite close to me, only within about eight feet. He looked up at the boys and then round at me. I called to him to try and come towards me – because he was staying dead still. He wasn't moving his arms, but his head was completely above the water ... He looked at me, and then he turned round and looked at the children. He turned round to me again… and he just went under the water.'

  I imagine that scene, and the terrible feeling of helplessness, must have given the poor woman – and her children – many bad dreams. The probability is that Farrell was already on the brink of death by the time they saw him. He was physically weakened by the polio he contracted as a student at Oxford in the 1950s, and had probably succumbed quickly to hypothermia. His body was found later on the far side of Bantry Bay, and there was speculation in some quarters that his death was the work of the IRA or British Intelligence, while others spoke of suicide, but the coroner's verdict was clear and surely right – accidental drowning. A terrible accident, and a sad loss.