Irishman dies in NYC after fall

The body of a young Irishman was discovered in the alleyway of the hostel he was staying in on 107th Street in Manhattan on Friday morning after what police believe was an accidental fall.

Brian Forde, 22, was found lying in the back alleyway of the West Side Inn youth hostel about 9:10 a.m. on Friday, July 10 by the super of the building. Police from the 24th Precinct were called to the hostel immediately. 

Forde, from Athenry, County Galway, was staying in the hostel in room 110 with seven other friends. He was apparently in the U.S. for a few weeks to play hurling and was planning to spend his last few days in the U.S. in New York with his friends.

On Thursday evening, Forde and six of his friends went on top of the roof of the eight-story building. There they drank vodka and orange juice. Recent press reports said it is common for residents of the hostel to frequent the roof for gatherings when the weather is nice.

The Irish Voice called the West Side Inn and a manager declined to comment.

According to police, Forde’s friends left the rooftop a little after midnight to go to a bar to continue the party. However, the Galway man stayed behind on the roof because he was on his cell phone to a female friend.

She reported that at 12:32 a.m. the phone went dead. An examination of Forde’s body temperature places his time of death at approximately the same time.  

Forde, the second of three children, was a material technology teacher at St. Raphael’s College in Loughrea, County Galway and was on his summer vacation when he traveled to the U.S. to play hurling. It is still unclear if he played a game.

Forde won a Galway championship under-21 hurling medal in 2007 with St. Mary’s Club, an Athenry based team.

He had been heavily involved with St. Mary’s, his local GAA club, and in 2007 won a Galway championship under-21 hurling medal with the Athenry-based team.

Forde was due back in Ireland on Monday. His parents picked him up from the airport in a coffin on Tuesday.  

Five of his friends, including his girlfriend who was in another part of the U.S at the time of his death, flew home to Ireland on Monday evening to be with their good friend.

An Athenry parish priest, Fr. Tony King, said the community had been left "devastated" by the accident.

“It’s a cloudy and wet day here today, but it’s certainly much darker in the hearts and spirits and emotions here because they are just absolutely devastated,” said King referring to Forde’s family.

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