A WOMAN IN her 70s has been airlifted to hospital after she sustained injuries in a fall on a popular cliff trail in North Clare this afternoon.

The alarm was raised at around 3.30pm when emergency services were alerted to an incident on the Burren Way walking trail on the Cliffs of Moher.

A woman, believed to be an Australian tourist, suffered a fall on the trail about a kilometre south of O’Brien’s Tower.

The National Ambulance Service was alerted and requested that the Irish Coast Guard unit based at Doolin a short distance away respond to assist.

It’s understood that an ambulance had to be sent from Limerick to the scene while the area was also inaccessible by road vehicle.

Coast Guard volunteers located the injured woman and remained with her while ambulance paramedics made their way to the scene.

It was later decided that the woman should be airlifted from the cliff top location to hospital.

The Shannon based Coast Guard helicopter was requested to undertake the mission.

The woman, believed to have sustained a hip injury, was airlifted by Rescue 115 from the scene to University Hospital Galway for treatment.

The journey to hospital by helicopter took around 10 minutes, while the same trip by road would have taken 90 minutes or more.