Nolan-O’Slatarra, 33, was originally from Monacurragh in County Carlow. She studied business and digital marketing at University College Dublin before moving to New York in 2015. In recent years she helped build East X East, a Hamptons-inspired resortwear brand selling swimwear and lifestyle pieces. Her death has resonated strongly at home in Ireland, where tributes described her as talented, creative, and full of promise.

In Ireland, national and local figures publicly expressed condolences. Taoiseach Micheál Martin described the loss as a devastating blow for her family and community. Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs also confirmed consular assistance has been provided to the family as they seek answers about what happened in New York.

What happened at the Montauk Yacht Club

On the evening of August 4, 2025, Nolan-O’Slatarra went to the Montauk Yacht Club for what she described to friends as a business meeting. She had also texted her boyfriend, who was out of town, saying she planned to order an Uber home around 1 a.m.

Later reporting identified the person with her that night as Christopher Durnan, 60, an insurance executive who had invested in East X East. They spent hours together, first cruising on one boat and then moving to a second vessel, Ripple, docked at the club.

Nolan-O’Slatarra was found unresponsive on the boat just after midnight. Witnesses on nearby boats later described seeing a naked man running along the dock yelling for help. Two bystanders said they boarded the boat, attempted CPR, and placed the initial 911 call that brought East Hampton Town police to the scene.

Nolan-O’Slatarra was pronounced dead shortly after midnight. Around 4 a.m., the case was turned over to homicide detectives from Suffolk County Police, according to a police statement issued that night.

Autopsy findings and the lack of official updates

The last official update from Suffolk County Police came on August 5, the day after her death. Investigators said an autopsy conducted by the county medical examiner found the body did not show evidence of violence, and that the final cause of death was pending further examination.

Nolan-O’Slatarra’s family was told that a final post-mortem report, including toxicology, could take months. The family also commissioned a private autopsy before her body was repatriated to Ireland for burial. As of late December, reports from both examinations were still awaited.

New detail emerged in November — and one timeline gap

After a lull in public reporting, attention returned in November when New York magazine / The Cut published a long feature describing the first detailed account attributed to Durnan, relayed through his attorney.

According to that account, Nolan-O’Slatarra became unresponsive suddenly while they were talking on deck, sometime around 10:30 or 11 p.m. Durnan’s attorney said he believed she was having a heart attack and attempted CPR, but she was nonresponsive almost immediately. The attorney also said Durnan ran for help after removing clothes that were soaked with vomit.

The account, however, leaves a key uncertainty: witness descriptions and emergency-call timing suggest an unexplained gap of roughly an hour between the reported collapse and the call to 911 shortly after midnight. That gap has not been publicly clarified by law enforcement.

The family’s legal push and the ongoing investigation

The family has been represented in the United States by New York criminal defence attorney Arthur Aidala, who has said publicly that Durnan is a primary person investigators would naturally examine because he was the only known person with her that night. Aidala has also stated he believes the Suffolk County district attorney’s office is focused on the case.

Suffolk County Police have repeatedly said the investigation is continuing, while also confirming there is no new information to release publicly at this time.

Why “Montauk” keeps trending

The case continues to flare up online for a simple reason: there is still no final medical explanation. Fresh follow-up articles, the continued absence of a cause of death, and renewed holiday-season attention in Ireland have repeatedly pushed readers to search for updates — often causing the place name “Montauk” to spike on Google even months after the initial headlines.

For now, the facts that remain public are limited: no evidence of violence has been reported, no charges have been filed, and the official cause of death has not been announced. Until authorities or medical reports provide clarity, the death of Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra is likely to remain a case followed across both New York and Ireland.