Mountain rescue members undertook a dramatic rescue in darkness this weekend when a couple were plucked from a cliff ledge on Ireland's highest mountain, Carrauntoohil.
Twenty members of the Kerry Mountain Rescue abseiled down steep cliffs to reach the stranded pair early on Saturday morning. The couple from Dublin had been camping in the Hag's Glen area in the MacGillycuddy's Reeks.
They became stranded about 1,000 feet up Carrauntoohil when they lost their way attempting to walk around Lough Gouragh, a lake on the foothills.
Instead of returning to base as they had intended, the couple got lost and climbed higher. The nature of the territory around the lake was such it was easier to climb up, said Mr Tim Murphy, spokesman for the rescue team.
The couple had a mobile phone and alerted gardai, who called out the Kerry Mountain Rescue.
Rescuers were able to pinpoint their location from descriptions relayed by the couple.
"It was serious ground. You are talking quite steep cliffs," Mr Murphy said. Two divers were airlifted by helicopter to University College Hospital, Galway, at the weekend after they were reported to have surfaced too quickly off Eagle Island, Co Mayo.
The alert was raised when an Air Corps Casa maritime patrol plane intercepted a message on Saturday morning. The divers were admitted for decompression treatment at the hospital.
In Cork harbour, the body of a man was recovered from the sea off Crosshaven. The Crosshaven lifeboat was called out, and the body was handed over to the Garda for identification.