Defence Forces member rescues four teens from Monksland forest

A member of the Defence Forces has called on young people to "respect their surroundings" following a weekend incident in which four teenagers endured a harrowing experience in a large wooded area near Monksland.

Robbie Wallace was called upon to use his "local knowledge" as the teenagers went astray in the dense woodland which covers a vast area to the rear of Monksland and stretches as far as Curraghmore and Barrybeg.

The quartet were missing for over four hours when the alarm was raised and Robbie was called upon for his assistance.

It is the third such incident in 18 months in which Robbie was tasked to venture into the wooded area to locate teenagers who had "lost their bearings" in the surrounds.

Robbie is also the founder of Westshore Survival, an outdoors military-style activities camp for children aged seven to 14, so when called upon in such circumstances he knows the terrain and is always willing to help when the need arises.

However, he is fully aware of the dangers presented by an area which is "completely dense" and "poses a threat to life" when users become "unaware of where they are".

"I received a call on Saturday night from a concerned parent that four teenagers were missing in the large wooded area in Monksland. The gardai then made contact requesting my assistance as I have helped with previous cases and I know the area extremely well," Robbie said.

Robbie said he had the phone number of one of the teenagers and made contact to "ease any immediate fears" and let them know that help was on the way.

"The teenager had 13% battery power left on the phone, so after we spoke I urged him to call out for a minute and turn the phone's flashlight on so I could get a feel for the direction I had to go.

“Thankfully, I was able to make out the light from the phone within 250 metres of their location and reached them before the situation became any worse," Robbie added.

When he recovered the four teenagers after an hour of searching, they were four kilometres deep into the forest and showing signs of hypothermia.

"I had been unwell during the day and have an injured knee at the moment so a distance that would usually take me 20 minutes to cover took me close to an hour.

"When I located the party, the two boys were wearing t-shirts, while the two girls were in light blue hoodies. Their teeth were chattering when they spoke and you could see the fear in their eyes. They were on dangerous terrain with bogholes and swamps and were completely unaware as to where they were. It was an extremely frightening experience for all four teenagers," Robbie stated.

A garda search and rescue was on the verge of being launched to find the teenagers such was the concern of their parents but "thankfully, they were located before the incident snowballed into a major operation".

Robbie said that Monksland has now become so "built up" that there are a lot of youths in the area venturing into the woodland for "adventure".

"I am all for exploring and adventure, but you have to know where your surroundings.

“The forest is now so dense, the terrain is unforgiving and you can get lost within five minutes if you don't know the area.

“You have to be very cautious and adventure within the parameters of safety," Robbie said.

Robbie said the dense woodland covers an area "six or seven kilometres long" and "approximately five kilometres across". It's filled with "gorse, brambles, bogland, marsh and swamps" which all pose "their own dangers".

Previously, Robbie assisted with the recovery of two children in Curraghmore Bog last year.

"They were missing for over eight hours when my son Tadhg and I found them. It was complete darkness when they were located and both were in a poor state," Robbie said.

Robbie also co-ordinated the recovery of young girl in 2024 with the help of the gardai and civil defence units.

"I was hiking in Austria when this situation unfolded. Once again, due to my knowledge of the area, gardai made contact with me and we were able to co-ordinate a search and recovery using Google Maps. She was missing for 36 hours," Robbie added.

Robbie's knowledge of the area stems from his childhood days when he visited his grandparents in Cushla village and spend his summer days exploring the area.

"I have a unique understanding of the area. I spent my summers there as a child, you could say I grew up there, so I have a good knowledge of Monksland," Robbie said.

While Robbie is always "happy to help" with a search of the wooded area when called upon, he hopes that it doesn't become a "more regular occurrence".

His fear is that a tragedy could occur if a "missing person is not located in time".

"Young people in particular go out into this large wooded area and do not have a clue of their surroundings. God forbid, it gets to the stage when a child goes missing in the area, loses consciousness and their life suddenly hangs in the balance," Robbie said.

Referencing the "terrified state" in which he located the teenagers at the weekend, Robbie said it is essential "to respect nature".

"We certainly don't want to hear of tragedies. The woodland is a fantastic area but similar to Lough Ree and the River Shannon it must be respected. My big fear is that we will not get there in time on the next occasion," Robbie concluded.