The fisherman who lost his life after his boat washed onto rocks off Teelin last night has been named locally.
He was father-of-five James ‘Dearg’ Byrne from Cashel in Kilcar.
Members of the coastguard and Rescue helicopter 118 were alerted to the scene around 9pm when the boat was spotted.
An initial search of the boat did not find anybody on board.
Mr Byrne, who was from Cashel, Kilcar and in his early 70s, was found dead a short time later in the nearby waters.
It is understood that he was found by local people and was wearing a lifejacket when found.
It followed a large-scale search by a number of groups including the Arranmore Lifeboat, Killybegs lifeboat and Sligo lifeboat.
He was taken to Letterkenny University Hospital where a post mortem was carried out today.
A fisherman all his life, Mr Byrne was an experienced seaman.
A full investigation into how he ended up overboard has now been launched.
His vessel has since been removed from the area for a full forensic examination.
One local who knew the dead man said “James was really retired and he really just fished to pass the time. He has been a fisherman all his life. Sure if you went down to the pier who would just give you the fish.
“He was a lovely man with a lovely grown-up family and the thoughts of everyone are with his wife and his elderly mother.”
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