Two women drowned off the coast of Co Kerry last night, bringing the number of fatalities in the water over the past 24 hours to three.
The women, both nuns who were Presentation Sisters, are thought to have been in their mid-50s, are believed to have gotten into difficulty while swimming on Inch Beach, which is about halfway between Tralee and Dingle on the Dingle peninsula.
The alarm was raised by a lifeguard, who it is understood was about to go off duty when he noticed the women in difficulty.
Valentia Coastguard was notified at 7.21pm that the women were being taken from the water and that a helicopter was required to airlift them to hospital.
The rescue helicopter was dispatched from Shannon and was on the scene at 7.56pm. It left the beach at 8.10pm and landed at Kerry General Hospital, Tralee, at 8.15pm. Two ambulance units and the Dingle coastguard unit also attended the scene.
A spokesman for the coastguard said cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was performed on the beach by emergency medical staff for almost an hour before the women were airlifted to hospital.
Conditions were said to be fine at the time and the spokesman for the coastguard said there was no immediate explanation for the women having gotten into difficulty on a beach not renowned for dangerous swimming. “It is unusual and a member of Dingle Coastguard said conditions were fine,” he said. “There are no unusual currents or anything out of the way – fine for swimming – so we don’t know.”
