Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAMS from all over the country are in Mayo this weekend ahead of the annual ‘Reek Sunday’ ascent of Croagh Patrick.
Between 15,000 and 20,000 people are expected to climb ‘Ireland’s holiest mountain’ throughout the day as part of the pilgrimage, which is traditionally held on the last Sunday of each July.
There’s an outside chance the numbers could even exceed the 20,000 number, according to Robert Hunt of Mayo Mountain Rescue, which is heading up the emergency response today.
“We’ve been planning for this since April,” Hunt said.
We’d have thirteen teams from all around the country.
Triage facilities will be set up on the mountainside, with nurses and doctors at the stations assessing each casualty on the spot and recommending the best course of action.
Two people were seriously injured during the ascent last year, and had to be airlifted from Croagh Patrick by helicopter — while three people were airlifted to hospital the previous year.
Locals have raised concerns recently that erosion of the peak is making the surface more treacherous than before — a report carried out by Mountaineering Ireland two years ago found the path to the summit was in a “significantly degraded state”.
Wear boots
Hunt is advising anyone attempting the climb to dress appropriately for the task, including the wearing of “appropriate footwear” (hardcore pilgrims tend to try the ascent barefoot — significantly increasing their risk of a lower leg injury).
Mayo Mountian Rescue receives donations from various local groups every year – including the Catholic Church – in advance of Reek Sunday, according to Hunt.
“The teams from elsewhere are here all weekend, so we have to organise accommodation for the teams, accommodation for each member.
We’d have donations too from some suppliers of bread, butter and milk and the like to feed everyone.
The first mass on the summit is due to begin at 8am this morning, and there’ll be services every half hour thereafter until 2pm.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
That’s a shame to hear. I used to love reading Montague’s poetry for the Leaving Cert and sure enough he showed when I needed him on the big day. A dolmen round my childhood. R.I.P.
The light, tarred skin
of the currach rides
and receives the current,
rolls and responds to
the harsh sea swell.
Inside the wooden ribs
a slithering frenzy; a sheen
of black-barred silver-
green and flailing mackerel:
the iridescent hoop
of a gasping sea trout.
As a fish gleams most
fiercely before it dies,
so the scales of the sea-hag
shine with a hectic
putrescent glitter:
luminous, bleached—
white water—
that light in the narrows
before a storm breaks. ………RIP John Montague
Hey diddle diddle The cat did a piddle, All over the kitchen mat, The little dog laughed to see such fun, And piddled all over the cat.
@michael o’brien
“The disappointed cat / Reflected in the glass / Reflects on where it’s at / And that it shall not pass.” I made up that one last week when the cat was trying to get out the kitchen window and I closed it in time. Suppose Poet’s Corner’s safe from us both Michael. RIP Mr Montague filíocht mór. Ar dheish Dé go raibh a anam.
@john o Driscoll,I like your poem John,I always liked poems that rhymed.No harm havin a bit of a sense of humour.
The rhymes the thing for many Michael. And a sense of humour carries us a long way past where we’d otherwise give up always. But beat and rhythm, imagery and sense don’t necessarily need to rhyme though they should always scan imo. Was thinking as I wrote that how the real cat in the kitchen appeared also to be outside on the window ledge at the same time (it being dark outside as in Country dark) as he gazed at his reflection, a photon cat observing a molecular cat or vice Versa.
And thought of calling the insta-ditty “An answer to Schrodinger” but immediately thought it pseud and overly clever-clogs and reading this haven’t changed opinion. That’s why great poets like Montague are great; regardless of rhyme or the absence there of. Their poetry is real, not pretentious or forced. It blows the heart wide open with apols to Mr Heaney.
I always found poetry difficult, until I discovered JOHN Montegue….you Sir, deciphered poetry for me, where others shrouded it in obscure meaning. For that, I THANK YOU. May you Rest In Peace.
have your say