Yesterday an off duty  garda Adrian Martin (46), from Carrickmacross died after falling from a cliff while fishing with his six-year-old son in Co Clare.

He had been fishing from a 75-foot cliff close to Dunlicky Castle, a popular mackerel fishing spot near Kilkee.

The alarm was raised shortly after 1pm when another man fishing nearby witnessed the tragedy where he raced to the cliff edge where the young boy had gone to look for his father,

and took him to safety.

It is believed  the victim’s fishing line had gotten snagged on the cliff face and he had tried to reach out to free it. However it seems  he overreached and, with the wind at his back, he lost his balance and fell to his death.

Staff at the Irish Coast Guard co-ordination centre at Valentia Island in Co Kerry mounted a search-and-rescue operation.

Members of Kilkee Marine Rescue Service and the local unit of the Coast Guard were alerted and dispatched to the scene, while aid was sought from the Shannon-based Coast Guard helicopter.

However, while the helicopter was preparing to depart from Shannon it developed a technical problem and was grounded.

The Kilkee rescue volunteers recovered the body in the meantime and the helicopter was not required.

The body was taken on board the rescue boat and rushed back to Kilkee, where emergency medical services were waiting.

Gardaí travelled to the family’s rented holiday apartment in Kilkee where they broke the news to the victim’s wife.

The body was later removed to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick where a postmortem will be carried out.

Gardaí are investigating but are treating it as a tragic accident.

Yesterday an off duty  garda Adrian Martin (46), from Carrickmacross  who was stationed in Clones died after falling from a cliff while fishing with his six-year-old son in Co Clare.

He had been fishing from a 75-foot cliff close to Dunlicky Castle, a popular mackerel fishing spot near Kilkee.

The alarm was raised shortly after 1pm when another man fishing nearby witnessed the tragedy where he raced to the cliff edge where the young boy had

gone to look for his father, and took him to safety.

It is believed  the victim’s fishing line had gotten snagged on the cliff face and he had tried to reach out to free it. However it seems  he overreached and, with the wind at his back, he lost his balance and fell to his death.

Staff at the Irish Coast Guard co-ordination centre at Valentia Island in Co Kerry mounted a search-and-rescue operation.

Members of Kilkee Marine Rescue Service and the local unit of the Coast Guard were alerted and dispatched to the scene, while aid was sought from the Shannon-based Coast Guard helicopter.

However, while the helicopter was preparing to depart from Shannon it developed a technical problem and was grounded.

The Kilkee rescue volunteers recovered the body in the meantime and the helicopter was not required.

The body was taken on board the rescue boat and rushed back to Kilkee, where emergency medical services were waiting.

Gardaí travelled to the family’s rented holiday apartment in Kilkee where they broke the news to the victim’s wife.

The body was later removed to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick where a postmortem will be carried out.

Gardaí are investigating but are treating it as a tragic accident.