Witness at scene of death of Irish woman in US tells of moment incident unfolded

Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra, 33, was discovered unconscious on the boat at Montauk Yacht Club in the early hours of Tuesday

One of the first witnesses on the scene after Irish fashion designer Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra tragically lost her life on board a yacht in the US has told of the horror moment the incident unfolded.

The founder of fashion label East x East, Martha, 33, was discovered unconscious at midnight onboard a boat docked at the Montauk Yacht Club. People rushed out and made attempts to save her life, but East Hampton Town Police later pronounced her dead at the scene.

A post-mortem examination of Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra “did not show evidence of violence” and her cause of death requires further examination, Suffolk County Police Department said in a statement.

One of the first bystanders to reach Martha’s body on Tuesday said they were woken up by screaming and saw the alleged boat owner panicking as they ran down the dock as the tragic incident unfolded.

“We were sound asleep,” the eyewitness, who wished to not be identified, told The New York Post.

“We heard someone shouting, stuff bouncing off the side of the boat. He threw sunscreen at our boat trying to wake us up,” he shared. “He was running up and down, naked, screaming, ‘Do something’.” After calling 911, the witness then boarded the boat.

33-year-old Martha, who is originally from Co Carlow but was living in Manhattan, graduated from University College Dublin (UCD) and later completed a Masters degree in digital marketing at Smurfit Business School.

Martha moved to New York at the age of 26, where she began working as a sales rep for a fintech start-up working with top-tier hedge funds before launching her East x East brand, a clothing and apparel line that specialises in eyewear, swimwear and resort-wear.

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