Inquest hears Dublin man who chose to live rough on the streets dies

Seán McCárthaigh

A homeless Dublin man who often chose to live rough on the streets rather than stay in hostels died from a combination of hypothermia and pneumonia, an inquest has heard.

Paul Murray (62) of no fixed abode but originally from Grangegorman, Dublin 7, passed away on September 13, 2025 at St James’s Hospital in Dublin where he was brought by ambulance after being found “cold to the touch” but conscious and breathing in a city centre area.

The deceased’s sister, Joan Byrne, who formally identified her brother’s body to gardaí, said she had not seen him for quite some time before his death.

She told a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court that her brother was not doing good as he was “living on the streets and taking drugs.”

“He had no real life and struggled for years,” she added.

Byrne explained that her brother had got involved in drugs from a young age, although he had periods where he stopped using drugs including an extended time when he lived in Switzerland with a partner.

The inquest heard he fell back into taking drugs like heroin and crack cocaine after returning to Ireland in 2011 when that relationship ended and he spent some time living in a car park near St Stephen’s Green.

Another sister of the deceased, Mary Byrne, said her brother was living on the streets “by choice” as he had received support from homeless services and had been offered an apartment at one stage by the Dublin Simon Community.

She described her late brother as “a nice man and a charmer.”

Byrne said he did not want to move into hostels during the summer when it was warm, while it also helped him to save his money.

She said her brother also did not like hostels because of “run-ins” he had with other people staying in them.

While he often had “plenty of money” and had previously worked with Dublin City Council, Byrne stressed that her brother “didn’t look after himself.”

“We don’t know how he made it to be 62, to be honest,” she added.

The coroner Clare Keane said medical records showed Murray had been found on a street with suspected hypothermia and he was severely unwell on arrival at St James’s Hospital.

His temperature was recorded as 31.9º C which Keane described as “highly abnormal”, while his blood pressure was also very low.

The inquest heard he died after suffering a number of cardiac arrests.

While a postmortem showed evidence of cocaine in the deceased’s body, Keane said the cause of death was a combination of hypothermia and pneumonia.

Offering her condolences to Murray’s sisters, the coroner recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.