Coast Guard and RNLI recover body from cliff base

A body was been recovered from the base of a cliff in Co Clare after a multi-agency operation was mounted this afternoon.

The alarm was raised at around 2.00pm when emergency services were alerted to an incident at the Cliffs of Moher. It was reported that a body had been seen at the base of a cliff at Aill Na Searrach, about 500 metres north of O’Brien’s Tower.

Watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue coordination centre on Valentia Island in Kerry mounted a search and rescue operation involving the Coast Guard, RNLI and An Garda Síochána.

The Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard was tasked along with the Aran Islands RNLI all-weather lifeboat. The Shannon based Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, was also requested to assist in the operation.

The RNLI lifeboat was dispatched from Kilronan on Inis Mór while Doolin Coast Guard launched their rigid inflatable boat. Coast Guard volunteers also made their way by road to the cliff top above the scene.

The crew of Rescue 115 carried out a search of the area and located the casualty at the base of Aill Na Searrach and reported the location to the boat crews.

After RNLI and Coast Guard teams completed a risk assessment, they mounted an effort to recover the body. Weather and sea conditions were favourable at the time so the RNLI launched their smaller Y-class inflatable boat. RNLI and Doolin Coast Guard volunteers made their way ashore to locate the casualty.

As darkness fell, the body was located, placed in a stretcher and successfully recovered from the cliff base.

At around 5.30pm the body was taken on board the Doolin Coast Guard boat and then transferred to the RNLI lifeboat. The remains were then transported to Doolin Pier and removed to the nearby Coast Guard base where Gardaí and a doctor were standing by. A local undertaker was also requested to attend at the Coast Guard station.

Once the casualty was formally pronounced dead, the body was removed by hearse to University Hospital Limerick where formal identification and a postmortem examination are expected to be carried out.

A Garda spokesperson confirmed: “Gardaí at Ennistymon and Coast Guard were alerted after the body of an adult female was recovered on the coastline at the Cliffs of Moher, Co. Clare shortly after 2:30pm. The deceased was brought to shore and removed to the mortuary at University Hospital Limerick. The local Coroner has been notified and a post-mortem will be arranged. The deceased has not yet been identified. Inquiries are ongoing.”