Police in New York are investigating the death of an Irish woman on a yacht on Long Island, New York state.
Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra (33) was found unconscious on a boat at the exclusive Montauk Yacht Club in the early hours of Tuesday.
The results of a preliminary examination into the cause of her death were deemed “inconclusive”, police said.
A postmortem examination “did not show evidence of violence and her final cause of death is pending further examination”, a statement from Suffolk County Police said late on Wednesday.
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People attempted to perform CPR, police said, but she could not be saved.
Ms Nolan-O’Slatarra was originally from Monacurragh, Blackbog Road, at the edge of Carlow town. From a farming family, she worked in Ireland until 2015 before emigrating to the United States.
She set up East x East, a luxury brand for sunglasses, swimwear and resort wear.
Last month she posted a video on her TikTok profile of her East x East pop-up shop at Gurney’s Montauk Resort & Seawater Spa, less than 10km from the yacht club. She captioned the post “goals achieved” and promised she would be organising brand events and pool parties during summer in the Hamptons.
An earlier statement from Suffolk County Police said East Hampton officers “responded to a 911 call from a man reporting a woman unconscious on a boat docked at the Montauk Yacht Club, on Star Island Road, at approximately 12am [on Tuesday]”.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the death was an “absolutely devastating blow for the family – a young, beautiful, very talented, creative woman. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family. We can’t comment any further other than to say it’s a devastating loss for the family and the community in Carlow.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was aware of the case and was providing consular assistance.
“As with all consular cases, the department does not comment on the details of individual cases,” it said in a statement.
Carlow councillor Fergal Browne said his thoughts and prayers were with Ms Nolan-O’Slatarra’s family.
“The death of a young woman with her life cut short and who did have years ahead of her makes this so heartbreaking,” the Fine Gael representative said.
“Martha is from a long-established and highly respected farming family. It is so devastating for them all.”
Dylan Grace, a business partner and friend of Ms Nolan-O’Slatarra’s, paid tribute on Instagram, saying: “We dreamed big together, laughed harder than anyone else could understand and built so much from nothing. I’m truly blessed and grateful to have had you in my life. Love you so much, Mar. Fly high, girl.”
A Montauk Yacht Club spokesperson said: “We are saddened to learn of the tragic incident that took place. Our team is co-operating with law enforcement in their ongoing investigation and remains committed to the safety and wellbeing of our guests and staff.”
Ms Nolan-O’Slatarra earned a commerce degree from University College Dublin and an MA in digital marketing from the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.
She was also director of operations at investment firm K4 Capital and ran a fashion brand called Duper, according to her LinkedIn profile. She is a past pupil of St Leo’s College, Carlow.
