Young woman drowns while swimming at night in Limerick

Body recovered by emergency services near where her shoes were found on river bank

A woman in her twenties has drowned while swimming in a river last night in Co Limerick.

The young woman (21) was swimming with two men at around midnight in the River Feale when she got into difficulties.

It’s believed the three were swimming in an area called the Powerhouse in Abbeyfeale, Co Limerick.

When she could not be located the emergency services were alerted.

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Following a 20-minute search by members of the Abbeyfeale District Search and Rescue Service, gardaí, and local fire crews, the woman’s body was recovered from the river, near to where her shoes had been found on the riverbank a short time earlier.

Emergency crews tried to revive her but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her body was taken to University Hospital Limerick where a postmortem was carried out today.

“She was 21 years old. We are treating it as a terrible tragedy. She was one of a group of young people swimming in the river and she got into difficulty. She was missed after a while and then the emergency services were contacted,” a Garda spokesman said.