Woman dies after falling from cliff on West Cork island

A WOMAN in her 60s died yesterday after she fell from a cliff while walking on an island in West Cork.

The woman, named as Margaret Sullivan from Ballylickey, was last seen on the western section of Bere Island in an area popular with walkers.

It is believed her death was a freak accident as weather conditions were fine at the time. The mother of one, a former dressmaker, fell a distance of up to 100 feet into the sea.

Sources say Ms Sullivan, who was described by islanders as “the life and soul of every party and always up for a sing-song” had built a holiday home on the island with her husband Desmond, who is from the area.

Last night her son Jonathan, who had travelled to New York for St Patrick’s Day, was desperately trying to get a flight home.

The exact time of the fall is not known but it’s believed that it happened early in the afternoon. The woman was declared missing at 5.15pm when she had not returned home.

Castletownbere Lifeboat was launched and the crew quickly found her body at the southern end of the island near Bird Island. It was taken to Cork University Hospital for a postmortem.

Meanwhile, a man who suffered serious injuries after a fall on a Connemara mountain was airlifted to hospital last night.

The man fell during a hiking trip with a group of friends on Ben Lettery, part of the Twelve Bens mountain range.

The Galway Mountain Rescue team was called after attempts by his colleagues to move the man were unsuccessful.