Hill walkers rescued near Mount Melleray after five hour ordeal

Two hill-walkers were rescued in the Knockmealdown Mountains over the weekend close to Mount Melleray Abbey after they got trapped in what has been described as a forest of Rhododendron plants at an area known as Bay Lough on the Waterford/Tipperary County Boundary.

Rhododendron is a purple tree like plant, not native to Ireland but was introduced to Ireland sometime believed to be in the 1800’s and planted in Mountainous areas.  

The Walkers who are in their fifties and experienced hill walkers had to endure a five hour ordeal before they were rescued by the South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association.

Those that took part in the rescue on Sunday have described the conditions they had to endure before reaching the couple.

Jimmy Murphy a volunteer with the South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association earlier today reported how it took the team two hours to battle through just 400 metres of land to reach the couple.

Rescuers have described the weekend rescue as one of the most difficult they have undertaken. It was Horrendous Jimmy Barry told the BBC earlier today, “I have been a member of the mountain rescue for 15 years and it was probably one of the most dangerous exercises or rescues I’ve been on” he said.

Mr Barry described how the rescue team had to crawl through the Rhododendron carrying their gear while trying to locate the couple at the same time.

“We kept going,” Mr Barry said and “Two hours later we finally reached the two people inside the middle of the rhododendron forest, and then the fun began, because we had to decide how we were going to get out of it.”

The couple had got trapped while walking through the Knockmealdown Mountains which had a dense covering of Rhododendron Plants in the area. The couple were attempting to reach a nearby lake but were unable to do so after they found it impossible to get through the plant.

To avoid a risky and arduous trek back up the slopes Cahir River Rescue and Gardai responded to help complete the last leg of the journey, transporting the two along with Mountain Rescue personnel across Bay Lough by boat to safety.