William Bailey, a 44-year-old sheep farmer from Coolatrindle, Kilmuckridge, Co Wexford, died on 13 March 2025 at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin after falling through a weathered Perspex skylight on his family farm, an inquest at Dublin District Coroner’s Court was told.
The married father-of-two had been airlifted to hospital by helicopter following the accident on 12 March 2025. His wife, Annette Bailey, told the inquest she received a phone call from her mother-in-law at around 1pm stating there had been an accident about 500 metres away on the farm.
Arriving at the scene two minutes later, she found her husband lying on the ground while labourer William Goff was on the phone to emergency services. She recalled holding his hand as he moved his head, made a noise of discomfort, and asked her to squeeze his hand while bleeding heavily from his head and ears.
An ambulance arrived after about 20 minutes, and Mr Bailey was flown to Beaumont Hospital. Following an operation on 13 March, nurses informed Mrs Bailey at around 5pm that her husband had lost a lot of blood in theatre and would not survive the night. He was formally pronounced dead at 11.32pm.
Coroner Clare Keane heard that Mr Bailey enjoyed perfect health and had seen off their twin sons on the school bus that morning. He had planned a few odd jobs around the farm ahead of the lambing season, including fixing the shed roof, though Mrs Bailey noted he “wasn’t great with heights”.
Mr Goff gave evidence that he was repairing a patch on the roof with corrugated sheeting and was almost finished when Mr Bailey joined him.
“I was telling him I was about done when I heard a crunching sound on the roof.” Mr Bailey
recalled Mr Goff.
Mr Goff said he believed Mr Bailey had walked on a Perspex skylight. Health and Safety Authority inspector Trevor Ryan-Nesbitt stated there were three Perspex sheets on the roof whose colour could change and "blend in with the rest of the stronger material", leading someone to fall through.
While the HSA inspector noted Mr Bailey fell onto a concrete floor, he confirmed no further action was warranted from the workplace accident investigation as the deceased had been working on his own farm.
