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Three American students have been rescued after becoming trapped at the base of a 60 metre cliff when the tide came in near Slea Head in West Dingle.
The students, all women in their 20s, are spending a semester studying in Dingle and had been walking the beach at the edge of the Atlantic at the end of a beautiful day on Saturday
It is understood the three, clad in shorts, had been walking south of along Coomeenoole beach (Cúm Dhineól) when the tide came in and trapped them. They climbed onto a ledge just over the sea.
The three women, American students in their early 20s, were trapped by the incoming tide and were suffering from the early stages of hypothermia https://t.co/mC2cZiCFHi
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) May 12, 2019
The area has poor mobile phone coverage but they managed to dial 999 from their mobiles which had US numbers.
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They were unsure of their location and only knew they were somewhere near Slea Head. It was still bright and around 8.45pm
Valentia Coastguard managed to ascertain an exact location for the trapped women by asking them to use a locator device on their phones.
The Shannon based rescue 115 helicopter was dispatched to the scene along with the Valentia Lifeboat and the Dingle Sea and Cliff Rescue coastguard team.
The helicopter could not reach them to winch them off the cliff as it was too dangerous and it was not possible for the life boat to get close enough to take them off the cliff base.
In a dramatic operation that lasted over two hours the Dingle coastguard used ropes to hoist them up the cliff one by one.
The rescue was were assisted by lights from the helicopter and the Valentia Lifeboat.
Frank Heidtke of the Dingle Coastguard told RTÉ last night that there was a danger the strong downdraught of the helicopter rotors hitting the high cliff could blow them off the ledge “so we decided to go down by ropes.”
Shivering and cold, the students were treated for mild hypothermia at University Hospital Kerry.
Under an arrangement with a number of US universities, students come to Dingle to study a range of subjects including language, spirituality, folklore and marine biology some for three month periods.