Man who died after getting into difficulty in water at Castletownbere pier named locally

LAST UPDATE | 14 hrs ago

A MAN WHO died after he got into difficulty in the water at the pier in Castletownbere, Co Cork has been named locally as Damien Mc Guinness of Killybegs in Co Donegal.

The 55-year-old died following an incident which occurred at about 5.30pm on Saturday.

The emergency services were contacted and the National Ambulance Service issued an alert to Valentia Coastguard. 

Castletownbere Coastguard, the local RNLI lifeboat attended at the scene. Mr Mc Guinness was taken from the water and was pronounced dead at the scene. 

His remains have been removed to the mortuary at Cork University Hospital. The Coroner has been contacted. 

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A post-mortem examination will be carried out and an inquest will be held at a later date. 

It is understood that Mc Guinness worked as a crew member on a tug boat.

Castletownbere is currently hosting its popular nine-day Festival of the Seas, which attracts crowds to the area 

Deputy Mayor of the County, councillor Finbarr Harrington, said that his thoughts and prayers were with the families of Mc Guinness.

“I just opened the festival last night. It is a great family festival so for something like this to happen is very sad.

“Castletownbere has seen its share of tragedies in the water and of course something like this brings it back to people who have been in this position.”