It’s not today or yesterday that we learned the average Irish Mammy is a bit of a legend, but we certainly welcome a reminder every now and again…

While most of us were comatose in front of the fire yesterday after a hearty Sunday dinner, this Kerry mother-of-three was busy trekking up the MacGillycuddy Reeks.

Her son Tomás sent us this snap of his mother Fiona O'Donoghue, a primary school teacher from The Kingdom making the most of the snow that fell in the south of the country over the weekend.

Tomás, who describes his mother as “a very regular mother of 3 - no adventure racing or deep sea diving”, explains:

“Today was her first day doing something as extreme looking as this. Dad, who is the experienced one, brought her up a section of the MacGillycuddy Reeks in the snow and ice. It's her first time using her new Ice-Axe and Crampons hiking boots for the ice. The photo is of her climbing up a frozen river on a gully near Corran Tuathaill.”

Tomás said his beloved mam was smitten with all the ‘likes’ she got when he posted the snap on his own Facebook, so he wanted to pass it on to us as “a real example of how us ordinary can achieve the extra ordinary, how we are never too old to achieve something new, and how even in the freezing cold and thick cloud there are still amazing things to do in Ireland!”

Well said Tomás, and well done Fiona, whose pride and joy, (we are reliably informed), are the junior and senior infants of Coolick National School, Kilcummin.

 

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