[caption id="attachment_66823" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter and rescue boats during the search. "]
A 32-year-old Cavan man is missing and presumed drowned after being swept into the sea by a wave last weekend.
Thomas Clarke was exploring the rugged coastline of Maine's Monhegan Island with four friends when he was struck by the wave Friday afternoon.
The four jumped into the water in a rescue bid but were unable to locate Mr. Clarke.
A large scale search involving the U.S. Coastguard and Maine rescue services was launched but was called off at dusk Saturday after covering an area of 200 square miles.
Clarke, from Kilnaleck, was on the island to attend a wedding. The rough seas that spawned the deadly wave were cause by Hurricane Katia which also caused severe weather problems in Ireland a couple of days later. Monhegan Island is ten miles off the mainland coast.
"There's very deep water on that side of the island, and you can't see a big wave coming," Jessica Stevens of the Monhegan Volunteer Fire Department told the Bangor Daily News.
"They were not going to see the big waves from Hurricane Katia. They were enjoying the edges of the sea and hiking," she said.
Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs is this week providing consular assistance to Clarke's family.
