Father and son, 12, drown in quarry

A 41-YEAR-OLD man and his young son died yesterday in Co Clare after the child fell into a quarry and his father jumped in to try and rescue him.

The tragedy occurred shortly after 6.30pm at Aylroe near Kildysart in the south-west of the county. It is understood the man, originally from the locality but now living in Clonlara in East Clare, was herding cattle when the 12-year-old lost his footing on loose gravel and fell 20 feet into the water below.

The boy’s father, named locally last night as Michael Cunningham, jumped in to save his son but both were drowned.

Members of the Kilkee Search and Rescue team were called in to assist in the search for the bodies. Divers from a sub-aqua team based in Athlone who had been in Kilkee for the weekend also offered their assistance. It is believed it was a group from that unit which recovered the bodies at around 7.30pm.

The father and son were pronounced dead at the scene and their bodies removed to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick where post-mortem examinations are expected to be carried later today.