Woman taken to hospital following fall in Blarney Castle

Update: A woman aged in her 40s has been taken to Cork University Hospital (CUH) after taking a fall down a set of stairs in Blarney Castle this afternoon.

The alarm was raised shortly after 2pm, with two units from Ballyvolane Fire Station, along with Crosshaven Coast Guard and the National Ambulance Service attending the scene.

The Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, which was undertaking a training exercise when the incident occurred, was also paged to attend the scene.

The woman is understood to have sustained suspected pelvic and leg injuries as a result of the fall.

She was airlifted from the castle and was then transferred to an ambulance where she was taken to CUH.

Second Officer at Cork City Fire Brigade, Victor Shine, spoke of the difficult and technical extraction of the patient from the castle.

“The helicopter was called in to evacuate from the top level of the tower itself.

“It was an exceptional feat of skill by the helicopter pilot and the winchman to come down into the castle itself on a highline with a basket stretcher and recovered the lady from Blarney tower.

“The helicopter landed in a nearby field and the woman was brought by Crosshaven Coast Guard crew and members of the staff of Blarney Castle from the helicopter to the National Ambulance and brought then to Cork University Hospital,” he said.

Mr Shine said the rescue mission required significant inter-agency collaboration.

“Between all teams, there was certainly 25 members of a crew there working to extricate the person from the tower and get her safely to the hospital,” he said.

Update 4:15pm: In a Tweet this afternoon, Cork City Fire Service confirmed crew members from Ballyvolane are now back at the station after attending an incident in Blarney.

The Fire Service said crew members had to perform a "difficult and technical extraction of a patient from Blarney Castle".

Ballyvolane crew now back at home station following a difficult and technical extraction of a patient from Blarney Castle.

As always great interagency work with @AmbulanceNAS and @IrishCoastGuard to give the patient the best care possible. pic.twitter.com/jZhYRPPiHP

— Cork City Fire Brigade (@CorkCityFire) December 29, 2021

"As always great interagency work with the National Ambulance Service and Irish Coast Guard to give the patient the best care possible," they added.

Earlier: Emergency services are currently responding to an incident at Blarney Castle.

The Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, Crosshaven Coast Guard, along with units from the Fire Service and National Ambulance Service are currently at the scene.

Valentia Coast Guard received the call in relation to the incident just after 2:20pm this afternoon.

It is believed the alarm was raised after a woman fell down stairs. 

More to follow as we have it.