WE’VE BEEN ENJOYING (and in some cases, enduring) winter’s first dusting of snow over the last few days.

Met Éireann issued a snow and ice warning for the north-west of the country yesterday.

And it appears at least one snow cloud made it quite a bit further south. 

This was the scene, just after dawn this morning, when photographer Billy Horan and his cousin made it to the iconic cross on top of Kerry’s Carrauntoohil…

{Billy Horan} {Billy Horan}

“There was blizzard like conditions up there at times but we enjoyed it,” Billy told TheJournal.ie.

It could all have been so different, of course — the five metre cross on top of the mountain was cut down by vandals on 22 November, with community groups coming together the following weekend to put it back up.

The 'Devil's Ladder' at the shoulder of the mountain. {Billy Horan} {Billy Horan}

In terms of the current weather outlook — the next few days look to be a snow-free zone. 

It will be cold tonight, with temperatures dropping to minus one, but tomorrow will be rainy and wet, and windy — with further blustery conditions to come on Wednesday too.

Resurrection: The five-metre cross on Carrauntoohil has been put back up

Michael Healy-Rae: Whoever cut down the Carrauntoohil cross is some sort of anti-Christ