Two men died and a family of three were pulled to safety in a dramatic rescue in rough seas at Horse Island off the north Co Mayo coast at the weekend.
The dead were Mr Michael Heffernan (38), an experienced local diver, who was founder and training officer with the Grainne Uaile diving and rescue club in Ballina, Co Galway, and Mr Will Ernest von Bellow (53), a retired German businessman who lived nearby at Belderrig, near Ballycastle.
Mr Bellow brought locals Tony Murphy, his wife, Carmel, and their daughter, Emer (13), out in his new 16-foot currach for a pleasure trip at 11 a.m. on Saturday. They were exploring the caves at Horse Island, which are at sea level, when their boat got into trouble.
They succeeded in getting to a large cave at the bottom of the cliffs where they were trapped by the high water level.
When they failed to return, the alarm was raised at 5.30 p.m. and the rescue services were called in. They were located by local fishermen, who had started the search and raised the alarm.
Supt Tony McNamara, of Belmullet, who is also cox of the Ballyglass lifeboat, called for the assistance of the Garda Sub-aqua unit based in Dublin. The fiveman unit was rushed to the area from Dublin Airport by the marine rescue helicopter.
Local divers made an effort to reach the stranded family, but Mr Heffernan was hurled against rocks by high seas and died. It is understood Mr Bellow died in the cave.
Other members of the Grainne Uaile club heard of the news while on a diving holiday in Malta. Mr Heffernan did not travel as his wife, Ann Marie, is expecting their second child. The club members are making arrangements to fly home immediately.
The search operation, working under helicopter lights in rising winds among knife-edged rocks, and involving lifeboats and local boatmen, made a breakthrough at 9 p.m. on Saturday night when shouts and whistles were heard.
The noise was traced to a tideline-level cave on the small islet, known as Horse Island, where the group was believed to have safely sought shelter.
The rescued Murphy family were brought to Sligo hospital where they were stated to be suffering from hypothermia, but were "comfortable" after their ordeal.
Rescuers described the conditions as atrocious, with waves of up to 12 feet smashing into the cave and making it extremely difficult to get the family to safety. They had got themselves into a crevice at the back of the cave, one metre above the water level.
Father Sean Killeen, Ballycastle parish priest, said people prayed at the scene in an all-night vigil. There was terrible sadness that two people should lose their lives like this. He said: "I don't know how to describe it. There was a feeling of terrible shock - and relief. Relief that one of our young families, Tony, Carmel and little Eimear, were saved, miraculously saved. We couldn't believe it. We were all here all night, waiting and wondering. And then there was the terrible price that we had to pay - the loss of two people's lives."