WATCH: Limerick pensioners abseil down Thomond Park for charity

“IT is well regulated by the men above. I don’t mean God now, I mean the men with the rope, and they are very good.”

This was the reassuring advice of Josephine Murray to those who were about to take part in Abseiling with Angela, a fundraiser to raise much-needed funds for the Children's Grief Centre and the Redemptorists Christmas Hamper Appeal.

Josephine, 81, is a retired teacher. She took the plunge from the heights of Thomond Park alongside her friend, Angela Collins O'Mahony.

“When I heard about this challenge I said why not. I am afraid of heights, but you can’t live by fear, so I said 'here goes'.

“And the two charities we are raising money for are very close to my heart. No child should have to live in fear, and by overcoming my fear, I am helping others."

Josephine, from Ballinacurra Gardens, was a natural for a beginner as she descended the 100 foot drop on a rope.

“It was exciting, a little bit nervy but worth the effort. The view was magnificent. And I had a friend holding my hand at times, which was reassuring."

Angela, on the other hand, is no stranger to heights and is known far and wide as Ireland's first female steeplejack.

“I started in 1969. I was sent out to deliver a message in Mullingar at the hospital. When I got there, the men were up a hundred feet at the top, and I thought I can’t sit here waiting for them to get down. I knew they must have got up somehow so I followed them up, I didn’t know what I was doing,” said Angela.

“I think you get just one little fright when you let go. Your heart gives a little jump, because now you are at the mercy of the ropes. But it is fantastic,” she added.