Woman dies after getting into difficulty on Lough Derg

Pat Flynn

Updated: 1.20pm

A woman who was airlifted to hospital following an incident on Lough Derg in Co Clare on Thursday has died.

The alarm was raised shortly before 6.30pm when emergency services were alerted to the incident at Twomilegate in the east of the county.

The Killaloe unit of the Irish Coast Guard and National Ambulance Service were tasked to the incident and the Emergency Aeromedical Service was also alerted, dispatching the HSE’s Cork-based air ambulance, Aeromed 01, to the scene.

It is understood the woman, aged in her 50s, had been swimming at Twomilegate when she got into difficulty. She managed to make her way to a pontoon and climb on, where it is believed she then became unresponsive.

Two members of the public ran to her aid and began CPR. Once Coast Guard volunteers from nearby Killaloe arrived they continued resuscitation efforts.

An ambulance and two rapid response advanced paramedic units also attended the scene and took over treatment.

The woman was airlifted to University Hospital Limerick, with Gardaí confirming she died in hospital.

A Garda spokesperson said: "Gardaí responded to an incident at Twomilegate, Killaloe, Co Clare yesterday evening.

"A woman (50s) was brought to University Hospital Limerick but has since passed away. A post-mortem will take place at a later date."