The body of an off-duty garda who was swept away by floodwater in Co Wicklow during Monday's torrential rain has been recovered.

The Irish Times reports that 25-year-old Garda Ciaran Jones was pulled into the River Liffey at the Ballysmuttan Bridge around 7pm on Monday while warning motorists not to cross the bridge.

A search and rescue operation was immediately launched involving the Irish Coast Guard, the Garda helicopter and mountain and river rescue teams, according to the Irish Examiner.

His body was eventually found at 9am yesterday morning some 4km downstream of the incident.

Supt Eamon Keogh of Blessington Garda Station noted that Garda Jones had been crossing the bridge to warn an oncoming car when he was swept into the swollen river by a sudden surge of water.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny led tributes to the young garda as well as a woman who died at her home in Dublin during the flooding that caused chaos across the east of Ireland on Monday evening, with several inland waterways bursting their banks.