Body of woman found in quarry

The body of a woman was recovered from a quarry yesterday after she was reported missing by her family.

The alarm was raised at around 11am and emergency services were alerted. Gardaí and ambulance paramedics found the woman’s body on a ledge close to the bottom of a 60m-high rock face at the abandoned limestone quarry at Fountain, Ennis, Co Clare.

The Irish Coast Guard was notified and the Shannon-based search and rescue helicopter was sent to the scene. Three units of Ennis fire brigade also attended.

After undertaking a risk assessment at the scene, it was decided that a cliff rescue team was also required.

The Doolin unit of the Coast Guard sent their specially trained cliff rescue personnel to the scene.

The rescue helicopter flew over the scene for a time, however, it was decided the body could not be safely recovered.

There were also high tension power cables in the vicinity of the scene, posing a further risk to the helicopter crew.

Fire crews used a crane on their specialist emergency tender to reach out over the end and lower two Coast Guard personnel to the ledge below.

Two Coast Guard volunteers, accompanied by two fire fighters, used a boat to reach the ledge from below.

The woman’s body was recovered and lowered into the boat and taken ashore, where she was formally pronounced dead.

The body was removed to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick where an autopsy is expected to be carried out today .

Gardaí said they are treating the death as a ‘personal tragedy’.