A mountain rescue unit was forced to camp out overnight at the weekend to care for an injured climber on 2,670 foot high Mweelrea Mountain in south west Mayo.
The victim, a man in his sixties, had sustained head, arm and leg injuries in the fall and was unable to descend the mountain unaided.
Rescuers arrived to assist the casualty around 5 pm yesterrday but were forced to camp out overnight as a Sligo based coastguard helicopter was unable due to deteriorating weather and fading light.
The victim was finally taken from the mountain this morning by the Shannon based rescue helicopter. He was taken to University College Hospital in Galway for treatment.
The Mayo Mountain Rescue team spent more than twenty hours on the mountain, one of their longest operations ever. Mweelrea, which overlooks Killary Harbour, is the highest mountain in Connacht and is very popular with climbers.