Rock climber (27) who died in Cork will be 'much missed'

Olivia Kelleher

Tributes have been paid to a PHD student from Italy who died whilst rock climbing in Baltimore in Co Cork on September 4th.

Lorenzo de Bonis (27), who lived in Blackpool on the north side of Cork city, will be laid to rest in his native Italy on Friday.

The marine biologist, who was studying at University College Cork, was climbing at Fox’s Cliff at Eastern Hole in Baltimore Harbour when the accident occurred.

The alarm was raised at 8:30pm last Thursday after his partner was unable to contact him.

A searched was carried out and halted at 1am on Friday. It resumed at 6am last Friday morning and his body was subsequently recovered by a local diver.

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) said that Lorenzo loved all outdoor activities including sailing and climbing.

“It was the latter that led to his untimely passing when he fell while climbing off Baltimore, Co Cork. Thank you to the lifeboat and local boat people who recovered his body for his family to mourn and bury.

"Our sincere condolences to his parents Concetta and Riccardo and his partner Signe. Our hearts go out to you all.

"Lorenzo will live on in our hearts and we will ensure his work will be published.”

The team at the IWDG say that Lorenzo first reached out to them when he was completing a placement.

“It was online but Lorenzo and fellow student Michiel De Boeck contributed a lot despite the distance between us all. Both Michiel and Lorenzo prepared short podcasts on our Shannon Dolphin research.

"One of Lorenzo’s stories (involved) encountering a grey whale in the Mediterranean during one of the many yacht-based surveys he carried out. He wrote a lovely piece for our summer 2021 edition of the IWDG magazine.”

The group added that Lorenzo travelled to ATU Galway to complete his third semester and stayed to carry out his MSc project on the genetics of bottlenose dolphins.

“His work with ATU and the IWDG on updating our knowledge on bottlenose dolphin genetics was very useful but his exploration of the genetics of some of the solitary dolphins in Ireland was truly remarkable.

"He showed that four of the five dolphins sampled were all offshore genotypes with one a Shannon-Offshore hybrid. This work is ready to be submitted for publication and we will ensure it is published in his memory.

"Following this work he was offered a PhD at UCC on the eWhale project. He was now very comfortable in the lab and became a driver and mentor to many colleagues.”

Meanwhile, his parents Riccardo and Concetta said in a death notice on Rip.ie that he will be sadly missed by them, his sister Chiara, partner Signe Martin, his wider family, and all his friends and colleagues in Italy, UCC, ATU and the marine biology and climbing communities in Ireland and beyond.

A funeral mass will be held for Lorenzo on Friday in Rome.