Ballymore woman on kerry mountain as felled crucifix is reerected
A Ballymore woman who climbed Carrauntoohil in Kerry this day last week (Saturday), found herself right in the middle of a national story-in-the-making when, at the top, she and her husband found a crew of around 30 local people in the process of secretly re-erecting the 5m high crucifix which had been toppled, illegally, a week earlier.
And while there, Margaret Mulvihill (nee Ballesty), got some cracking shots of the Kerry scenery, including shots in which the peaks surrounding Ireland’s largest mountain appear to be floating, like islands, above the low-lying cloud.
Says Margaret: “It was fantastic: they had brought all the equipment up and everything, and no-one but they knew it was happening.
Margaret, and Martin, who live in Athlone and who are both keen mountain hikers, had promised themselves they would climb Carrauntoohil on Saturday for Margaret’s birthday.
The climb came just a fortnight after a group of friends and family joined Margaret as she made her 100th ascent of Mayo’s holy mountain, Croagh Patrick.
There was great excitement at the top of Carrauntoohil last week as the crucifix was re-erected.
“People were very annoyed: everywhere we went [in Kerry], people were talking about it,” says Margaret of the mysterious felling of the cross, probably with an angle-grinder.