'Legend' Irish climber who previously tackled Everest dies after fall in New Zealand mountains

Tributes have poured in for a well-known Irish climber following news of his death while climbing in New Zealand, local news has reported.

Meath native Richard O'Neill-Dean died while climbing a summit in the south Pacific nation has been remembered as "inspiring".

The 70 year-old was making a solo descent from the 2,875-metre summit of Mount D'Archaic in the Aoraki/Mt Cook region in New Zealand.

The mountain is the highest peak between the rest of the Aoraki/Mt Cook region and the Kaikoura Range.

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Local police recovered the body on Tuesday, after the family reported him missing when he did not return from his climb over the previous weekend.

After the alarm was raised last Sunday, his body was found and was then flown to Christchurch for a post-mortem examination.

He is survived by his wife Frida and daughters Esme and Julie.

Widow Frida O’Neill-Dean told Star News that Richard was as "strong as an ox".

The mountaineer and psychotherapist had many achievements to his credit, including playing a key role in supporting Dawson Stelfox’s ascent of Everest from Tibet on May 27, 1993.

Richard O’Neill-Dean moved to New Zealand from Ireland in the late 1980s, and built up a large community of friends through his psychotherapy practice and within the climbing community.

"He had a huge love of the outdoors and adventures.

Daughter Esme O’Neill-Dean said that he was a "methodical" mountaineer, and said the "whole family is in shock".

"It was a solo ascent, and he’d wanted to do that mountain for a long time, so he achieved something that he wanted to do. We know he summited that mountain on Sunday morning because he rang a climbing friend from the summit.

"It appears that he broke through the cornice and fell down the south face of the mountain. I’m told by the police and the search and rescue team that it was a fall of several hundred metres into rock and would have been unsurvivable," Esme added.

Mr O’Neill-Dean initially worked as a hill sheep farmer and outdoor adventure instructor before training in psychotherapy. He began climbing as a teenager.

He once said he was “very lucky” to climb a few previously unrecorded peaks in the Indian Himalayas and Patagonia.

Tributes have been paid to the beloved Irish climber online, with many describing him as an "Irish legend".

A memorial service takes place for the climber in New Zealand next week.