The jury at an inquest into the death of John Brennan (51 ) last year in a house fire at Wellington Square found that Mr Brennan died from acute cardiac failure and respiratory failure as a result of smoke inhalation.
The jury heard that Mr Brennan was discovered on August 26, at 2am slumped against the door of his upstairs apartment at number 2 Wellington Square in the city.
The fire brigade dragged him from the apartment to the hallway and attempted to resuscitate him until the paramedics arrived and also tried CPR.
Efforts to resuscitate Mr Brennan failed and a doctor at the scene pronounced Mr Brennan dead at 2.25am.
Coroner Tim Kiely read the judgment following reports from paramedic, Niall Campion who attended the fire on the night, and from Dr Landers who carried out a post mortem on the body the following day.
The doctor told the inquest that along with a high presence of alcohol, there were also elevated levels of prescription drugs such as Tramadol and DAF in Mr Brennan’s system according to the toxicology report.
He said, “From the post mortem I discovered there was strong staining of the respiratory system including the trachea and bronchi but there was no internal evidence of injury.”
However he added, “There was a high level of carbon monoxide present at 59 per cent and a high level of alcohol present in Mr Brennan’s bloodstream following toxicology examination. There were also several other sedatives present in his system which would have had a combined effect with alcohol,” he added.
The inquest heard that drugs Tramadol and DAF were two such drugs discovered in his blood stream and Ms Sheila Lawler, former wife of Mr Brennan confirmed that Mr Brennan had been receiving psychiatric treatment in St Canices’s Hospital over a period of time where these drugs may have been prescribed.
Following the judgement, Ms Sheila Lawler asked the doctor whether the drugs found in Mr Brennan’s system were anti-psychotic drugs, to which Dr Landers replied, “yes, some would have had anti-psychotic properties.”
Following the inquest, Ms Lawler told the Kilkenny Advertiser she was concerned at the amount of drugs both sedatives and anti-psychotic drugs that were discovered in Mr Brennan’s system.
“I know he had a problem with alcohol but he was never a pill popper. There was a huge selection of these prescription drugs and their packaging discovered in his flat after he died and I question how he came to have so much? He didn’t need anti-psychotic drugs - there was nothing wrong with his mind and so I wonder why he had them. Maybe if he hadn’t had access to all these prescribed drugs he might be with us here today. I believe the mixture of alcohol and drugs inhibited him from smelling the smoke from the fire on time and this is why he was killed,” she said.
Mr Brennan was a former Blackrock College student originally from Dublin city in Booterstown. His late father was a garda from Ballylynan in Co Laois where Mr Brennan used to visit every Saturday to tend to his cattle. He was well-to-do and attended a fee-paying school growing up before buying a restaurant with a business partner in Dun Laoghaire - Steers Steakhouse. It was around then that Mr Brennan became dependent on alcohol.
Ms Lawler separated from Mr Brennan and remarried. Mr Brennan moved around and finally settled in Kilkenny where he was well-known and much loved by those who knew him.
Ms Lawler has questioned why her ex-husband was in HSE- provided accommodation that had no smoke alarms or no fire alarms fitted - which might have saved his life.
