Man dies after falling near Devil’s Chimney waterfall

Galway resident aged in his late 60s understood to have become disorientated during walk at beauty spot on Sligo-Leitrim border

A man has died after falling near the Devil's Chimney waterfall at Glencar on the Sligo/Leitrim border. Photograph: John O'Sullivan/Pixnio
A man has died after falling near the Devil's Chimney waterfall at Glencar on the Sligo/Leitrim border. Photograph: John O'Sullivan/Pixnio

A man has died after falling 20m into a stream while visiting a beauty spot on the Sligo-Leitrim border.

The man, aged in his late 60s, was walking with his partner in the Devil’s Chimney area of Glencar on Monday at the time of the incident.

It is understood that he became disorientated and strayed from the path.

A major rescue operation involving 10 members of Sligo Leitrim Mountain Rescue (SLMR), the Strandhill-based Irish Coastguard helicopter, the National Ambulance Service and the Garda began after the man was reported missing at about 7pm.

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Henry Doherty of SLMR said the man, who was visiting from Co Galway, had strayed 500m from the walking path and then fell down a gulley into a stream which had swollen considerably due to heavy rainfall. The man suffered a head injury and was in the early stages of hypothermia when located by the rescue services, he said.

Rescue 118 came to the scene and paramedics performed CPR on the man but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mr Doherty said all those involved in the rescue operation were devastated and wanted to extend sympathy to his family.

The Devil’s Chimney waterfall, known as Sruth in Aghaidh an Aird in Irish because it appears to flow backwards in certain weather conditions, is 150m high and is listed on the World Waterfall Database as Ireland’s tallest.

Marese McDonagh

Marese McDonagh

Marese McDonagh, a contributor to The Irish Times, reports from the northwest of Ireland