(from Irish Mountaineering 1968)
English visitors help in a rescue

Mr. & Mrs. D. Carnell (Summit M.C.); Miss L. Childs (Summit M.C.); Mr. & Mrs. Nat Allen (Rock & Ice C.C.); 7. 8. 65.

We arrived late after a long wet ride from Clifden (Connemara) and after a few moments of rest got the dreaded rescue call from the local cops ! Apparently some ordinary type tourist had gotten himself crag-bound on the opposite side of the top lake. We (The English abroad) were piloted round by our Irish champion of the coming night, Pat Kavanagh, to the lake side to be greeted by the Fire Brigade – Police Force – Civil Defence and Atomic Warfare Squad and a Boat ! We rowed up the lake with our tinhatted friends observing from the loch the crag-bound broke about 350 ft. up a tottering heather covered crag. We landed and rushed up the hill, while our friends dug in by the shore, and by a surprisingly difficult traverse climbed above him and after some fancy work on the vertical heather we made contact with him at dusk. All roped up and ship-shape, we started the tricky descent; Derek and Pat, then Chris (the first of us to get stranded) backed up by me. After four or five abseils over overhangs, we made contact with the deck and after many funny Irish remarks (even Pat was amused) we abseiled into a tree and relayed from its branches to the ground. Pat, at this time, seeing things running smoothly, clouted himself on the head with his own peg hammer, and on arrival was descended on by 20 aspiring ambulance boys who with shears started to crop his curly head. We relaunched the boat at 12.15 a.m. with the aid of a searchlight and sailed back down the loch like some venetian fete.

“ Subsequently, a letter of thanks was received from the rescued youth – it was addressed to the Irish Mountaineering Boys’ Club.”