Songwriter Johnny Duhan has died after getting into difficulty while swimming off the Galway coast.
The 74-year-old was one of two people reported missing following what gardaí have described as separate incidents at Silverstrand beach, on the western outskirts of the city.
A search for a woman, aged in her 30s, will resume at first light tomorrow.
Mr Duhan was best known as the writer of 'The Voyage', a song made famous by Christy Moore, on his 1989 album of the same name.
Gardaí were alerted to his disappearance shortly after 10am today, after he failed to return home from his daily swim.
Conditions were calm at sea at the time, which coincided with a low tide, and there were no reports of anybody in difficulty in the water.
As the search continued, a second report was made in relation to another swimmer, who had failed to attend for work as expected.
She had also been swimming at Silverstrand, and her car was left unattended at the beach.
An extensive multi-agency search continued throughout the day, involving gardaí, the Irish Coast Guard, Civil Defence teams and RNLI crews.
Several local boats also took part, along with a number of kayakers, while many residents took part in a shoreline search in and around the immediate area.
Heavy and persistent fog complicated efforts, with visibility severely compromised for much of the day.
Mr Duhan’s body was recovered from the water, close to Rusheen Bay, a short distance from the beach, shortly after 1.30pm.
The remains were taken to Galway Harbour and later transferred to University Hospital Galway for formal identification and a post-mortem examination.
Efforts to locate the missing woman continued until nightfall.
Civil Defence teams deployed a number of specialist drones as part of the operation, but there has been no trace of the second swimmer.
She is also understood to be from the Galway area.
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Garda Superintendent Paudie O'Shea said that efforts are continuing to try and piece together the sequence of events.
He added that while both swimmers were local to the area, they were not known to each other.
Detectives have appealed to anyone who was walking or swimming in the area this morning to contact them.
The search will resume at 8am tomorrow, with a dedicated Command and Control Unit operating at Silverstrand car park.
Heavy fog is forecast to persist for much of the morning and those volunteering to take part in the search effort are being asked to register their participation on site.
Mr Duhan, who lived in Knocknacarra, was born in Limerick in 1950.
As well as writing a number of songs covered by leading artists, he was a singer in his own right, recording several albums over a long career.
Mr Duhan was also the author of a number of books in which he detailed his life story.
He once wrote that "originality is the hardest path to pursue", but said that he always strove to achieve "purity of expression and form" throughout his lengthy career.
Mr Duhan is survived by his wife Maureen, their five children, grandchildren, his siblings, and extended family.
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