A WOMAN has died after she was swept out to sea while swimming at an unguarded beach in Co Clare yesterday.
The woman, named locally as Julie Burke (35) and believed to be from Moyross in Limerick city, had been swimming with family members at Kilmacreehy near Liscannor when she got into difficulty.
The incident occurred at about 3pm about a kilometre across the bay from where Clare County Council lifeguards were on duty at Lahinch beach.
It is understood that three other people tried to save the woman and that one managed to get hold of her but the current was too strong and she was washed away. Another woman was later treated for hypothermia at the scene but did not require hospitalisation.
In a multi-agency operation co-ordinated by staff at the Irish Coast Guard station at Valentia Island, Co Kerry, Lahinch search and rescue service volunteers were notified first and requested to investigate the initial report.
On arrival at the promenade at Lahinch personnel confirmed at least one person in difficulty in the water about one kilometre from Lahinch on the other side of the bay. Lifeguards based at Lahinch also travelled to the scene to offer assistance.
The Irish Naval Service patrol vessel LÉ Aisling, which had been anchored in Lahinch Bay at the time, responded to a request from the Valentia station to assist and quickly dispatched a crew on board a rigid inflatable boat.
A HSE ambulance from nearby Ennistymon and an advanced paramedic unit from Ennis were sent to the scene along with two units of the fire brigade also from Ennistymon. The Doolin Coast Guard mobilised crews by road and by sea.
The Naval boat quickly located the casualty and took the unconscious woman on board. Personnel commenced and continued CPR as the boat travelled to the pier at Liscannor where paramedics were standing by.
Fire brigade, Irish Coast Guard and ambulance paramedics took turns administering CPR and continued to do so until the Shannon-based ICG rescue helicopter (Rescue 1-1-5) reached the scene.
A HSE paramedic accompanied the ICG crew on the 15-minute flight to University Hospital Galway as efforts to resuscitate the woman continued. However, Ms Burke was pronounced dead at 5.45pm.
A large crowed gathered at Liscannor Pier and in the car park of a local hotel.
One woman said: “We were parked at the pier and had just pulled away when we saw the ambulance arrive. I pulled into the hotel car park and watched from there and then we saw the helicopter coming in the distance. We couldn’t make out all of what was happening but they set up a kind of tent on the pier so I knew it couldn’t be good.”
Gardaí from Ennistymon are investigating the incident.