A KAYAKER IS recovering after getting into difficulty at Old Head of Kinsale in West Cork yesterday evening.

The Courtmacsherry RNLI boat was called out 5:45pm after the kayaker was spotted in the water. 

The man was thrown off his kayak and was unable to remount because of high swells. He was attempting to round the lighthouse as weather conditions worsened. 

Golfers on the Old Head of Kinsale Golf Links saw a person in trouble near the rocks on the western side of the Lighthouse and immediately raised the alarm. 

RNLI coxswain Mark John Gannon and a crew of six set out within minutes.

Arriving at 6.14pm, crew members Ken Cashman and Donal Young used the lifeboat’s small inflatable boat to traverse into the rocky inlet at the lighthouse and were able to pull the kayaker from the water.

The man was assessed once he was aboard the main lifeboat before being assessed later at the station house where he received dry clothes and hot drinks.

All of his belongings including his phone and keys were lost at sea.

Station officers were able to reunite him with friends who came from North Cork to meet him.

Courtmacsherry RNLI Lifeboat voluntary Lifeboat Operations Manager Brian O Dwyer said the crew was relieved that the kayaker was rescued so quickly in tough seas, and thanked the golfers who saw the kayaker in trouble. 

O’Dwyer praised the quick actions of the golfer who spotted the man in trouble.

Also tasked in yesterday’s callout were the Coast Guard Rescue 117 helicopter from Waterford and the Old Head/Seven Heads Coast Guard unit.