Man trapped in sea cave overnight in Co Mayo rescued

A man trapped in a sea cave overnight in Co Mayo has been rescued by emergency services.

The 40-year-old spent almost 22 hours on a ledge in the cave at Downpatrick Head, after being swept into the area during high tide on Saturday evening.

Since the alarm was raised just before 6pm on Saturday, a major search and rescue operation has been underway.

The man was airlifted by helicopter to Sligo General Hospital at around 4.00pm by the Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue 118 from Sligo.

The man is said to be well and in good spirits.

The individual was rescued by the Irish Cave Rescue Organisation, supported by the Coast Guard Units from Killala/Ballyglass/Killybegs/Achill, the Ballyglass RNLI Lifeboat.

It's thought the man was swept into the cave, along with a woman, as the tide came in.

A kayaker managed to bring the woman to safety soon afterwards, but the man remained on a ledge in the cave overnight until now.

Balyglass RNLI Lifeboat Press Officer, Agatha Hurst, told Newstalk everyone is delighted he is safe.

“We are absolutely ecstatic, there was a huge big sigh of relief that passed through the crowd fairly quickly when the good news started to come through that he had been rescued.

“Everybody’s just so happy that he was brought to safety, and all the different agencies that came together was just phenomenal."