TWO FISHERMEN DIED in separate incidents off the Irish coast today.

The Coast Guard received a call at about 8.47am from a Spanish fishing vessel off Loop Head on the west coast. A crew member with serious injuries was airlifted by the Shannon Coast Guard helicopter to Cork University Hospital, where he later died from head injuries.

He was 54 years old.

Earlier, in Dunmore East, county Waterford, a fisherman died after his boat capsized. The 43-year-old had been fishing near Tramore with his friend, who made it back to shore safely.

At 7.45am, the Marine Rescue Co-Ordination Centre in Dublin received a call about a man who had swam ashore from a 16-foot vessel that had capsized in Tramore Bay.

The vessel was inshore at the time, close to the Back Strand. There were two people on board when the alarm was raised.

The Tramore Lifeboat, Tramore Community Rescue Bost, Dunmore East Coast Guard Unit and the Coast Guard Helicopter from Waterford were all immediately tasked to the area.

The second man, named locally as Johnny Flynn, was brought ashore by the helicopter at about 8.38am. Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.

According to RTÉ, the deceased was a former member of the RNLI lifeboat and well-known in the locality.

“There is always shock when there is loss of life but when the identity of the person is known, I think everybody from the lifeboat crew, the people in the village, and a lot of the youths in the village played football and were managed by him,” said RNLI Dunmore East coxswain Joey Murphy said.