Eleven years ago to the day, Limerick native Gerard McDonnell stood at the highest point on Earth. King of the World, McDonnell reached to the bottom of his bag to begin the celebrations. But it wasn't your typical bottle of champagne or a camera he reached for. Instead, out emerged a hurl and sliotar!

In what must still remain the longest puck of all time, McDonnell let fly off the south col of the summit of Mount Everest in an attempt to banish the demons of Limerick hurling.

The Kilcornan clubman grew up playing football and hurling until he discovered a new passion of rock-climbing and mountaineering in DCU. His list of achievements includes journeying to the South Pole, scaling Everest and being the first Irishman to reach the summit of K2.

Tragically, Gerard died in 2008 on his decent from K2 when he selflessly went to the aid of other climbers who were stranded. Tweet

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