Only in Ireland! Teen hospitalized after being struck by falling sheep

Ewe won't believe it ... It’s raining sheep in Ireland!

A teenager hiking up Slieve Bearnagh in Co Down was hospitalized after a sheep fell on him in August 2018.

The unnamed teenage boy, 17, was hiking with a group of people near Hares Gap in the Mourne Mountains when a sheep jumped from a nearby crag and landed on him.

Fearing possible injuries, a team of 17 mountain rescuers was scrambled to the scene to assist the injured hiker. The Hare’s Gap is the most dramatic mountain pass in the Mournes. Its sharply defined outline indicates that ice once passed this way.

In a Facebook post at the time, the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team said, “The casualty was assessed and treated for a range of potential injuries including head, neck, back, abdominal and leg injuries.”

The teen was evacuated on a stretcher and handed over to Ulster Hospital where he was later discharged from.

“For information,” the Rescue Team added, “we believe the sheep was uninjured and left the area unaided.”

Thankfully all ended well, which opened up the floodgates for some sheepish puns on the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team’s Facebook post:

"It's raining sheep! Baaaaa_lleluia! It's raining sheep! Amen!"

"Makes a change from raining cats and dogs."

"That bloody sheep was lucky yon bloke was there to break its fall!"

“Ewe wouldn’t expect something like that to happen though”

“Rescuers Flocked to the scene!”

"If sheep could fly.. well that one did"

“Accidents 'wool' happen”

“That's BAHd luck”

* Originally published in Aug 2018, updated in May 2023.