Body recovered in search for sailor missing off Connemara coast

The body of a man has been found in a remote coastal area in Connemara, two days after a sailor went missing in the sea near Carna in Co Galway.

The Coast Guard, RNLI lifeboats and Garda had been searching for a yachtsman named locally as Conor McLoughlin after he was reported missing in waters off Cruach na Cara, better known to locals as Oileán Mhic Dara (Macdara’s Island), on Thursday evening.

“We recovered a body from Maínis island,” a Coast Guard spokesman said on Saturday, adding that the search has been stood down.

Although Maínis (Mweenish) can be reached by land, the body was being taken to Rossaveal by RNLI lifeboat because it was found in the remote south-western part of the island.

Locals say the body was recovered around 12.30pm on Saturday from the shoreline near the graveyard on Maínis.

The air and sea search was initiated after emergency services received reports that a man had entered the water from a yacht while attempting to retrieve a dinghy which had become detached from the vessel he was sailing with his wife.

A mayday call was received by the Coast Guard on Thursday evening, saying that Mr McLoughlin had got into difficulty swimming while trying to retrieve the dinghy.

A public notice was issued on Friday evening seeking volunteers to search the shoreline at low tide for McLoughlin who went missing while travelling on his yacht, Peggy M of Foynes Yacht Club on the Shannon Estuary in Co Limerick.

Rescuers from the Cleggan and Costello Bay Coast Guard stations and the RNLI Clifden and Aran Island lifeboat stations had taken part in the search.

The search and rescue effort was redesignated a recovery operation on Friday night, with a shore search at low tide scheduled to begin at 11am on Saturday.