Coroner's Service

The State Laboratory provides a forensic toxicology service to assist Coroners and the State Pathologist to investigate the causes of sudden death by analysing post mortem samples to confirm the presence or absence of ethanol, legal and illegal drugs and other toxic substances.


Since 2013, all post-mortem samples nationwide have been submitted directly to the State Laboratory for both screening and confirmatory analysis, which has enabled the Laboratory to streamline and standardise the service provided to all Coroners


The Laboratory uses high resolution liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC/MS) based drug screening methods. The development of these new test methods, in combination with connectivity of the LC/MS instruments to the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), has greatly improved the range and overall efficiency of the service. Currently blood and urine samples submitted for testing are screened for 167 different drugs. Where a drug is detected during the screening analysis, the level of the substance present is confirmed and quantified by a separate analysis.


State Laboratory staff are pro-active about using their wide network of contacts to keep abreast of the latest drugs of abuse in circulation and where possible they extend the scope of the methods of analysis to include these new compounds as soon as reference standards become available. The Laboratory is also represented on the Early Warning and Emerging Trends sub-committee of the National Advisory Committee on Drugs and Alcohol.


Human Toxicology Section email: humantoxicology@statelab.ie

Contact Details of Coroner's Court

3 Store Street North Dock Dublin D01 R638
Dr. Myra Cullinane Phone: +353 (0)1 874 6684 Fax: +353 (0)1 874 2840 Email: dublincoroner@justice.ie	Dr. Crona Gallagher Phone: +353 (0)1 874 6684 Fax: +353 (0)1 874 2840 Email: dublincoroner@justice.ie