A father and son were rescued from a cave in Co Clare on Sunday after getting lost and spending 28 hours underground.
Dubliners Patrick Troy and his son Finn entered the caving network at Pollnagollum in north Clare on Saturday afternoon, but lost their way. Despite efforts to find their way out the pair remained in the cave overnight until they were finally located at around 5pm on Sunday.
Speaking after emerging from the cave network, Patrick Troy was quick to praise his rescuers and admitted he “broke all the cardinal rules”.
“Honestly, I broke all the rules in the book. I should have notified someone we were going in. We thought it would just be in for two hours and back out again. You should always notify someone when you are going caving like that,” Patrick said.
“I’ve been caving for over 30 years but its 20 years since I was here and the passages have all changed.”
He said he and his son were staying in Lisdoonvarna for the weekend and he was supposed to collect someone in Limerick.
“When I didn’t arrive the whole thing (rescue) kicked into action,” he said. He said they tried to find their way out but it was total darkness.
“My son Finn was very good because your mind can play tricks on you, but he was very calm. He told me he wouldn’t go caving with me again,” Patrick said.
A former member of the Irish Cave Rescue Organisation (ICRO), Patrick said he knew they would be rescued.
“We managed to sleep and stay warm but I was always confident we would be rescued. I knew they’d be coming,” he added.
The caves, which run up to 20kms in length are located on the eastern side of Slieve Elva between Lisdoonvarna and Ballyvaughan.
Members of the ICRO from several parts of the country were mobilised to the scene once the alarm was raised.
Call for help
Spokesman for the organisation Brian MacCoitir said they received a call from Ennis gardaí At 2pm on Sunday requesting assistance following a report of a father and son missing after a caving trip.
“Rescue wardens determined their car was still in place and initiated a national call-out of ICRO team members,” he said.
“ A number of search and comfort teams entered the cave system which consists of about 20kms of passages on a number of different levels.”
The two missing men were located just after 5pm below the main junction in the main streamway.
“While both were cold, they were in good spirits and exited the cave with the assistance of the ICRO team,” Mr MacCoitir added.
The 50-strong volunteer ICRO unit is the national rescue team and specialises in cave and abandoned mine rescue across the 32 counties.
Fatality
Meanwhile, Garda divers were called in to assist the Irish Coast Guard recover a body from a sea cave in Co Clare on Sunday.
The woman, believed to be in her 30’s and from Dublin, is understood to have fallen to her death on Friday.
It’s thought her body was spotted in the water below the Cliffs of Moher about 500m south of the main viewing platform.
The Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard and gardaí went to the area and located the body in the sea but were unable to effect a successful recovery.
Efforts to recover the body were called off after it was taken by the tide into one of the cliff caves.
The Garda Underwater Unit arrived in Clare on Sunday afternoon to assist in the recovery of the casualty.
Conditions in the area at the time were poor, however four Garda divers swam into the cave and located the body.
In an operation that took several hours, the woman’s remains were recovered and taken to the Doolin rescue boat.