*Pictured: The late Michael Lorigan.
THE widow of Michael Lorigan has told a court that her late husband “endured an undeserved, senseless and tragic death”.
Recalling August 16th 2023 at Ennis Circuit Court, Dympna Lorigan said: “Michael and I were celebrating our wedding anniversary on that day and we had planned on spending the day together in west Clare.
In her victim impact statement, she said: “It was a sunny morning and Michael decided to cycle to Kilkee and I was to meet him there. I passed him on the road about five miles from Kilkee at 12.15 approximately and he had cycled over fifty miles at that stage. That was the last time I saw him alive.
“Michael, my soulmate, life partner, and the person who knew me best and accepted me as I am, needlessly and cruelly lost his life. He endured an undeserved, senseless and tragic death. He was fit and well, had a lot more living to do but he was unjustifiably denied that.
“Michael was a unique individual, full of life and a force of nature in the most positive sense. He encouraged me to be brave, to face difficulties and to be resilient. He was a good, caring person and never wasted time. He spent so much of his life creating, making, thinking imaginatively and solving problems.
“He had a dynamic, energetic personality, had a heightened sense of fun, was personable with a quick witted sense of humour. He was generous with his time and always had time for others, especially his sisters and his family. Michael had an all-consuming interest in his well-being, keeping fit and healthy.
“He exercised and cycled almost every day and had more than thirty years experience of cycling on the roads. He was a careful cyclist, didn’t take chances, respected the rules of the road and was always vigilant. He was enjoying and embracing retirement, having time for himself and the pursuits he loved. He was cheated out of this precious time of his life.
“But now I have to face life on my own and that is so very daunting. The heartbeat and soul of the home Michael and I built together is gone forever. It is just a place to live now. There is an emptiness there that I never experienced before, a sense of emotional isolation, part of the legacy of trauma suffered.
“We took our vows on the 16th August 1984 and since then we were fully committed to each other. We complemented each other in character, had complete trust in each other and shared innermost thoughts and emotions. We had a fulfilled, happy life together that ended far too soon.
“Both retired, we were enjoying our time together before it was suddenly and brutally ended without warning and with a devastating finality. No words can describe the emotions I felt on that fateful day in August 2023 when the world I knew came crashing down. Distress, disbelief, shock, anguish, extreme grief, intense sadness are just a few.
“Michael and I faced many challenges and got through them by leaning on each other’s strengths. Now I’m faced with my biggest challenge yet and I don’t have him with me to share the burden. I steel myself every morning to face each day as best I can without him. I miss him, his grounding presence, his unconditional love and support, his reassuring voice, his smile, his sense of fun, his laugh, his mischievous grin, his comforting embrace.
“All these and much more have been taken from me. I feel sad and lonely without him but he is in my heart forever inspiring me to be brave and to carry on as best I can.”
Mr Lorigan’s sister, Patricia Neylon told the court that “Michael was, up to the day he died, an elite athlete. He trained in his home gym for 90 mins every morning – running, cycling, lifting weights. Then, at least four days a week, he cycled a minimum of 70km in the afternoon. He boasted to us all that most years he had more mileage up on his beloved Bianci bike than on his car.
She said: “He never smoked and his diet was exemplary. He was a huge positive influence on all of us in our family and among his friends. But he was not a boring old man – he was the life and soul of any party – a brilliant raconteur with a great sense of humour and fun.
She added: “It is difficult to put into words the annihilation of positivity his violent, tragic death has brought upon us, his family. We had texted him that morning wishing him and Dympna a happy 39th wedding anniversary. It was a lovely, sunny, calm August day – a perfect cycling day. When Dympna arrived at my door later that afternoon accompanied by 2 Gardai to tell me Michael had been killed at Baunmore, Lisdeen – only 5 or 6km from his destination, Kilkee – my world, as I knew it up to then, changed irrevocably. The awful finality of the news still lingers.
“The only word that describes our feelings at his loss is that we are “bereft”. He was the first person one could call on if in need.
Mrs Neylon said: “In short Michael lived a life straight out of any of the best “self help” books out there and he was totally content with his life ….until Aug 16th 2023.
“The saddest aspect of all this is that nothing and nobody can give us back what we have lost – our loving, witty, talented, fit and healthy husband, brother, brother in law, uncle, cousin and friend.
“That such a life can be so cruelly and carelessly obliterated is impossible to accept.
In her own victim impact, another sister, Jean Lorigan recalled her last phone call on August 15th 2023 when Michael’s last words to her “you know my darling I am there for you if you need anything.”
She said: “That was my Mike, he was my confidant, adviser, and the person I trusted most in this world, my funny darling loving brother.
Ms Lorigan said: “His loss to me can’t be verbalized, I miss him so much, he is in my mind continually but now I feel so vulnerable without him. I miss his physical presence, his guidance, council and his total unconditional love for me.
“I have begun to detest Sundays, they are long sad empty days, I miss our daily phone calls and our chats. I feel now that a large part of me has died with him, my life is so bereft without him. The manner of his death is so hard to take, I hope to God he didn’t suffer in any way. He and Dympna deserved so many more happy years together.
“My consolation is that I was so privileged to have my darling brother Mike in my life, and in my heart he will always be.”
