Fatal accident at Clare quarry

A father and son were tragically drowned in a quarry on Monday evening (March 28th) despite the best efforts of the local emergency services.

The accident occurred when Michael Cunningham was herding cattle along with his 12-year-old son, who slipped on gravel and fell 20ft into water below.

Mr Cunningham dived in to rescue his son but was tragically drowned also. The tragedy happened at Aylroe near Kildysart in Co. Clare at 6.30pm.

The bodies were recovered an hour later by the Kilkee Search and Rescue team, who were assisted by a sub-aqua team based in Athlone.

Post mortems are expected to be carried out on the bodies in the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick.