Woman hospitalised following Mount Brandon rescue in one of two overnight Kerry call-outs

A well-charged battery meant the woman was also able to remain in contact with rescuers until they reached her in the early hours

Dingle Coast Guard went to the scene and brought her from what one of the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team described as “a very precipitous area”. File photo: Valerie O'Sullivan

A woman is recovering in hospital after an overnight rescue operation on Kerry's Mount Brandon, where she had been walking alone.

The west Kerry call-out was one of two in a matter of hours for the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team.

Earlier on Wednesday night, at around 8.30pm, the rescue team went to the assistance of an English woman who suffered a leg injury in a remote area between the Black and Bríde valleys in the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks near Killarney. 

Then at around 10pm the emergency rescue services, coordinated by the Gardaí, were called to assist a woman on Mount Brandon.

The woman, who is in her 40s, had been on her way down the mountain when she strayed onto a ledge.

Dingle Coast Guard went to the scene and brought her from what one of the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team described as “a very precipitous area”.

Gardaí, the Shannon Rescue helicopter and the two rescue teams succeeded in bringing the woman down the mountain at around 6am this morning.

Suffering from hypothermia, she was brought to University Hospital Kerry on Thursday where she is recovering.

An experienced walker, she had strayed onto steep terrain, but was able to summon the services by mobile phone. A well-charged battery meant she was also able to remain in contact with rescuers until they reached her in the early hours.

Frank Heidke of Dingle Coast Guard said it is not everywhere there is mobile phone reception on Mount Brandon.

High numbers are on the mountains this summer, said Gerry Christie of the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team, who took part in the night-long rescue on Brandon.

Last August, Kerry Mountain Rescue Team attended 16 full call-outs in as many days.