A body has been recovered in the search for a missing rock climber off the coast of Baltimore in Co Cork.

The 27 year old man, who is understood to be Italian, had travelled to the coastal village from Cork City to go abseiling at Eastern Hall in Baltimore Harbour

But he did not return home.

His girlfriend reported him missing to gardaí, and a search operation was launched shortly afterwards.

A local farmer saw the man by the Beacon in Baltimore, a whitewashed stone tower on the cliffs of the harbour, in the afternoon.

A search of the area was carried out last night and was halted at 1am. 

It subsequently resumed at 6am on Friday morning and involved two Coastguard Helicopters, Rescue 115 from Shannon and Rescue 117 from Waterford, the RNLI from Baltimore, along with the Civil Defence and gardaí. 

Local fisherman also became involved in the search. A body was recovered by a local diver this morning.

It is understood that climbing gear belonging to the man was found on the sea cliffs at about 11.30pm on Thursday. 

This assisted the team in pinpointing a particular area of the water to search this morning.

In a statement, issued on Friday afternoon, gardaí said: “Following the recovery of a body this morning, Friday 5th September 2025, a search operation for a man in his 20s reported missing in Baltimore, Co. Cork has been stood down.

“His body has since been removed from the scene. The local Coroner has been notified and a post-mortem examination will be arranged in due course.”