The call for help came from three male hill-walkers on Lugnaquillia, after a member of the group, who had gotten his feet wet in a stream on their way into the base of the mountain, deteriorated over the course of their climb.

Near the summit, in the extreme cold, the man’s feet worsened to the point that he could no longer walk and hypothermia was setting in. His companions alerted Mountain Rescue who immediately sent parties onto the mountain to treat and extract the man.

Friends of the Glen of Imaal MRT from UCD Mountaineering Club were near the summit of Lugnaquillia at the time and heard the emergency whistles. Under MRT guidance, they were instructed to do a sweep search of the area near the summit and successfully located the three men.

Thankfully weather conditions were good and the Coastguard Helicopter was able to airlift all three men by 15:55.

Meanwhile, Mountain Rescue parties already en route to the aid of these three men, were informed by a separate group of walkers about a group of five people who ‘seemed’ in trouble near the South Prison. Though good intentioned, a search of the area produced no results and Mountain Rescue Teams stood down the incident at 16:03.

Thank you to all agencies involved in this rescue.