Woman dies after fall on Mweelrea

Mother of three dies after fall on Mweelrea


“Unless you know the mountain or are experienced you should not go up it if it is foggy”.

Anton McNulty

MAYO Mountain Rescue has advised people against climbing Connacht’s highest mountain in difficult weather conditions following the death of a mother of three - who had over 20 years of climbing experience - on Mweelrea mountain last week.
The body of Margaret Sweeney (50) from Annaville Park, Dundrum, Dublin was found after an 18-hour search of Mweelrea mountain after she slipped into a ravine on Connacht’s highest mountain during foggy weather conditions. The City of Dublin VEC employee had been descending the mountain with her husband Colm Magee, a producer with the RTÉ sports department, when she slipped and fell about 60 feet into a ravine.
Weather conditions at the time were very difficult with low visibility because of dense fog which hampered the early part of the rescue. The alarm was raised at 5.45pm on Tuesday evening and the body was eventually located by the Coast Guard helicopter at 5.30am.
Dick Harmody of Mayo Mountain Rescue told The Mayo News that the weather conditions on the mountain were difficult with visibility of less that 30 feet when they reached Mr Magee at approximately 9.45pm. In an effort to get a mobile phone signal to raise the alarm, Mr Magee had to leave the area where the fall had taken place and because of the fog he was unable to give an exact location of the fall.
After 10pm, the fog lifted which helped the search team who were assisted by Galway Mountain Rescue but despite searching through the night they were unable to locate Ms Sweeney. The Coast Guard helicopter arrived at 5.30am and located the Ms Sweeney in a deep ravine.
“When the fog cleared we followed the river but we couldn’t see her and you could only see her from the helicopter. You would have to look over the edge and it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. She was wearing an orange bivvy-bag which made it easy for the helicopter to spot,” said Mr Harnedy.
Mweelrea, which rises to 2,442 feet, is Connacht’s highest mountain but it is also one of its most challenging to climb with big drops in part of it. Mr Harnedy advised against climbing it if the weather is poor.
“We know it fairly well but we will still be careful up there because there are big drops and with fog you can’t see anything infront of you and it can be very disorienting. Unless you know the mountain or are experienced you should not go up it if it is foggy. It is dangerous and this is the second fatality on it in ten years. You would rarely expect fatalities on Croagh Patrick but Mweelrea is in a different league to Croagh Patrick,” he said.
A technical team using ropes retrieved the body and took two hours to take the body off the mountain before being brought to Mayo General Hospital where a post-mortem was carried out.
A team of 35 people took part in the rescue which included members of An Garda Síochana, the Coast Guard as well as the Mayo and Galway Mountain rescue. Mr Harnedy thanked all the people who took part especially local farmer, Patrick Jordan for his help and knowledge of the terrain and the Delphi centre for providing food for the team during the night. He also offered his and his team’s condolences to the family of Ms Sweeney.