Second sea tragedy for Donegal family

THE RECOVERY of the body of a missing fisherman marks the second sea tragedy for a Donegal family.

THE RECOVERY of the body of a missing fisherman marks the second sea tragedy for a Donegal family.

The body of Oliver Cunningham (43), a single man originally from Killybegs in Donegal, was recovered close to the slip at the pier in Castletownbere at 1.30pm yesterday.

He had been part of a crew aboard the 24m fishing trawler the Patrick C, based at Clogherhead in Co Louth.

The trawler had docked in Castletownbere overnight on Monday.

READ MORE

Mr Cunningham lost a brother, also a fisherman, in similar circumstances in Killybegs nine years ago.

Matthew Cunningham was just 25 when his body was recovered from the water.

Oliver Cunningham was reported missing early yesterday morning. The Castletownbere lifeboat, the Coast Guard and local divers launched a search for the man at 11am.

His body was spotted in the water close to the pier by Castletownbere lifeboat volunteers at 1.30pm.

It is understood he had been out socialising with friends on Monday night.

Fellow crew members raised the alarm when they realised he had not returned to the vessel yesterday morning.

Mr Cunningham was originally from Killybegs in Donegal but is understood to have been living in Clogherhead.

A postmortem is to be carried out at Cork University Hospital today.