'No bother to him!' Longford man Danny Mulledy climbs Croagh Patrick at 82

​Age proved no barrier for 82 year old Ballymahon man Danny Mulledy as he tackled one of Ireland’s best-known climbs, reaching the summit of Croagh Patrick in just over two hours.

​The idea for the climb was prompted by his co-adventurer, son-in-law, Anthony Coyne. Speaking to the Longford Leader, Danny explained, “My son-in-law asked me if I ever climbed Croagh Patrick. I said no, so he asked me if I’d like to do it. I said sure I’d like to have a shot at it anyway!”

“We left Ballymahon and arrived down there at around 10 so we started climbing. It took two and a half hours to go up and around two hours and forty five minutes to come down because it's pretty steep. You have to watch what you're doing there. I got my knee replaced five years ago, but I still have to be careful.”

Danny added, “They put in footsteps and took away some of the stone which was probably a good thing. I remember around 50 years ago when my brothers used to climb it in their bare feet! The stones would be running out from under the feet and people would have to get down their hands and knees to climb.”

“The steps are good but the rise from one step to the next step is still a bit too high for me so I found I had to be very careful coming down, especially with my knee. We made it anyway!"

"You’d feel it in the backs of your legs. The only thing that caught me were the muscles from the hips down to the knees. That last kilometre coming down, Lord save us! I thought those muscles would give in. I was fierce glad when I saw the car park!"

Despite a touch of muscle pain the morning after, Danny still went for a short walk “to limber up” before returning to his usual routine a day later of walking four miles daily with his dog.

Danny - who is father to seven, namely, Lisa, Darren, Tony, Hillary, Ursula, Deirdre and Bryan - is no stranger to tough climbs having tackled Cross Mountain in Medjugory on three occasions with his daughter-in-law Caroline. Standing at 540 meters, it proved good practice for Croagh Patrick which stands at 764m high.

Danny is also a doting grandfather to 16 grandchildren, including Seán, who completed an Ironman last year, proving that the adventurous spirit clearly runs in the family.

Medjugorje isn’t the only stamp on Danny’s passport. In fact he is a keen travel enthusiast, and just last Summer went to California with his daughter Lisa and son-in-law Anthony to officiate at the wedding of his cousin’s daughter Colleen Duggan.

This passion for travelling was one he also shared with his beloved late wife Elizabeth whom he cared for prior to her passing in 2020.

With no plans to return to Westport’s highest peak, Danny is keeping the feet firmly on the ground and looking forward to a winter of social dancing.

He says, “To get to my age and be in your health is a blessing especially when you see young people dying at 40 and 50. They never got to live their life so I’m very grateful for mine.”