Watch: Sheep dug out after being trapped under snow in Galtee Mountains

Sheep rescued in the Galtee Mountains. Picture: Carlow Weather

A family of farmers and their sheepdogs have been able to save a "lot of their sheep" who were trapped under the snow in the Galtee Mountains. 

The cold snap saw ice, snow and dangerous travel conditions persist across parts of Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Clare, and Tipperary this week. 

According to Alan O'Reilly from Carlow Weather, the Galtees saw some of the "worst snowfall" it has seen in decades. 

Over the past few days, brothers Tom, John, William and their nephew Billy along with their hill sheep farming neighbours, have been digging their sheep out of the snow. 

The family have been able to save a lot of sheep, according to a post by Mr O'Reilly on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

With the help of their sheepdogs Sue, Sally, Hemp and Ted, they were able to find where the sheep were buried in the thick compacted snow.

However, the family said they would have a "lot of losses too" and they would not know the final count until possibly next week. 

The cold snap saw thousands left without power earlier in the week, but temperatures are set to become milder over the weekend. 

Met Éireann's head of forecasting Eoin Sherlock said while the weekend would see the end of the cold spell, the thaw would be slow and travel conditions would remain dangerous.  

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