Two rescued from Clare caves after 28 hours

By Patrick Flynn

Two men have been rescued from a cave in Co Clare where they were stuck for 28 hours.

The alarm was raised at around 2.00pm today when gardaí in Ennis were alerted to the missing men.

The father and son from Dublin lost their way in the Pollnagollum cave network yesterday afternoon.

Despite efforts to find their way out the pair remained underground overnight until they were finally located at around 5.00pm today.

Members of the Irish Cave Rescue Organisation (ICRO) from several parts of the country were mobilised to the scene once the alarm was raised.

An ICRO spokesman said: “The two missing men were located just after 5pm below the main junction in the main streamway. They were unable to locate the way on despite continuing to search throughout the night."

"While both were cold, they were in good spirits and exited the cave with the assistance of the ICRO team,” the spokesman added.

The 50-strong volunteer ICRO unit is the national rescue team and they specialise in cave and abandoned mine rescue across the 32 counties.

The Pollnagollum caves, which run up to 20kms in length, are located on the eastern side of Slieve Elva between Lisdoonvarna and Ballyvaughan.