Our Story

On Wednesday, 15 October 2025, Conor (Harrington) went to Galway’s Bridge of Hope (Droichead an Dóchais), the pedestrian bridge beside the Salmon Weir crossing by Galway Cathedral. Conor’s 20th birthday was the day before. At 21:19, Conor died.

Conor was unique: happy, deeply thoughtful, generous to a fault, and the kind of person who noticed others and quietly helped. He was getting on top of his life in a way he had never been able to before. Something happened that evening, something he couldn’t manage in that moment, and he made a choice that left behind a heartbroken brother and parents, relatives, friends, and a community stunned by loss.

What followed is the part many people don’t fully see.

In the immediate aftermath, Galway’s emergency response mobilised quickly. Over the hours and days that followed, a multi-agency effort formed and expanded, involving An Garda Síochána, the Irish Coast Guard, RNLI, Civil Defence, and local emergency services, supported by a huge number of volunteers.

As the days passed, the search broadened from the river and city outward to Galway Bay and along the coastline. The work was relentless: shorelines covered, grids planned, zones allocated, crews deployed, and then redeployed again the next day.

A rhythm formed. One familiar to anyone who has lived through a search: a place to meet, to brief, to assign areas, to return and report. Volunteers gathered repeatedly, many of them coordinating from Galway Bay Sailing Club, Renville (Oranmore). People arrived with waterproofs, boots, hi-viz, and sheer determination… and then came back again the next day.

For twelve days, volunteer and public services searched early mornings to late afternoons, doing everything possible to bring Conor home.

On 26 October 2025, the Irish Coast Guard recovered a body from the southern shore of Galway Bay in North Clare. On 29 October, Conor was formally acknowledged as returned to his family.

Conor’s loss was devastating for his family but it also carried a heavy emotional impact for the people who searched: volunteers and frontline responders returning day after day into difficult conditions, holding hope in one hand and dread in the other.

This is the reality of water searches: they can be wide-area, time-critical, and deeply uncertain. They require enormous coordination. And when they extend over many days, the psychological burden spreads far beyond one family.

Out of that reality came a question:

How do we shorten the time between “missing” and “found” — and where possible, between “in danger” and “rescued”?

CARN was created to reduce the duration, uncertainty, and trauma of searches in rivers, bays, and coastal waters for families, volunteers, and public services.

Following an offer of support from Bobby Healy (CEO of Manna), we began turning grief into practical capability: a community-led, technology-enabled effort to help responders locate people faster and more safely.

CARN stands for Conor Aerial Reconnaissance Network.

We are developing a smart aerial capability using drones and onboard AI to:

• Launch rapidly when a person is reported missing in water
• Fly defined search grids over rivers, estuaries, bays, and coastlines
• Use thermal and high-resolution imaging to scan large areas quickly
• Apply AI-assisted detection to flag anomalies and potential sightings
• Provide precise GPS coordinates and imagery to incident commanders and rescue teams

The goal is simple and measurable: Reduce search time. Reduce risk. Reduce trauma. Improve the chance of early intervention when minutes matter.

Success is not just “better technology.” Success is:

• A faster, more targeted search footprint
• Fewer days of repeated wide-area searching
• Safer operations for crews and volunteers
• Quicker answers for families.
• Recovering remains that do not need a closed coffin so loved ones can say goodbye.
• And, where possible, earlier rescue or intervention before a tragedy occurs

We believe a successful proof-of-concept in Galway can become a repeatable model for other Irish waterways and coastal regions.