Nine people have died in weekend accidents. This includes five road fatalities, two drownings and the death of two walkers.
A South African woman in her mid-thirties died yesterday while participating in the annual pilgrimage up Croagh Patrick.
At about 2 p.m. the woman was halfway up the 2,500 foot mountain when she became ill and collapsed. Members of the local Order of Malta went to her assistance but she died at the scene.
The woman worked in a local hotel and had been living in the West for a number of years.
Meanwhile, the body of a man was recovered from Nephin Mountain, also in Co Mayo on Saturday evening. The man, aged 51, was with a friend when he suddenly took ill and died. The man's name has not yet been released but it is known that he was a Christian Brother and former principal of Rice College in Westport.
The body of a fisherman in his thirties was recovered in Sligo Bay yesterday, after he had been reported missing the evening before. His car was discovered on the shore and a fishing rod found in the water.
On Friday evening, the body of a man was washed ashore at Curracloe Beach, Co Wexford. He had been seen swimming in the area earlier. Gardaí said he was aged 28 and from Bunclody, but he has not been named.
Meanwhile, three male motorcyclists have died in weekend traffic accidents.
In Laois, 39-year-old Mr Patrick Gorman was killed when a motorcycle went into a ditch early on Saturday morning. Mr Gorman was pronounced dead at the scene, and another man was removed to St Luke's hospital in Kilkenny with serious injuries. No other vehicles were involved.
On Friday, Mr Raymond Moore (44) died after his motorbike collided with a tractor at Milltownpass, two miles west of Kinnegad. Mr Moore was from Knocknacarra in Co Galway.
Also on Friday, a 24-year-old man died in Co Leitrim when the motorbike he was driving collided with a car at Grange on the Carrick-on-Shannon to Drumshanbo road.
Two people died in road accidents in the North. On Saturday, Ms Elizabeth Elliott (49) was killed in a road accident involving two cars near her home in Castlederg, Co Tyrone. In Co Derry, a pedestrian, Mr John Ewing (53), from Magherafelt, died when he was struck by a vehicle near the Glenshane Pass in Co Derry on Saturday.