A “history-making” south Armagh mountaineer has been given a sensational welcome back to her home village after climbing the world’s highest mountain for charity.
Thirty-one-year-old Sarah Armstrong – of Crossmaglen – successfully reached the summit of Everest on May 20, 2026… a death-defying feat that less than 8,000 have been able to accomplish over the course of 73 years.
Her achievement almost runs parallel to the first ever person to summit the 29,000ft mountain. New Zealander, Edmund Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer, Tenzing Norgay paved the way for Sarah and others like her by reaching the highest point on earth on May 29, 1953.
Sarah’s incredible achievement makes her the tenth Irish woman to make the summit and only the third person to do so from Armagh. She is now also officially the youngest Irish woman to ever complete the world’s highest seven summits.
The mountain – which can see temperatures plummet to -25°C in the Spring – has sadly claimed the lives of 340 hikers over the course of its history.
To persevere the perilous climb through unimaginable cold alongside dangerously low oxygen levels within the ‘Death Zone’, Sarah’s climb has been described as a “truly inspiring feat of determination, resilience and courage” by Newry and Armagh’s Sinn Féin MLA, Aoife Finnegan.
Sarah – a dentist by day – has been climbing mountains around the world since 2023, “always carrying the Irish tricolour with me”, she says.
At the summit of Everest, she unfurled a banner with a deeper more local sentiment, proudly honouring the life of Crossmaglen man, Caolan ‘Stringer’ Finnegan who sadly lost his courageous fight with brain cancer on August 23, 2024.
Her trek was also in aid of Evora Hospice – a charity she describes as being “close to my heart” and who also received a whopping £25,000 from ‘Care for Caolan’ which was initially raised to support Stringer in his fight against the disease.
Sarah’s own fundraising effort has so far surpassed £2,100 on GoFundMe and remains open for donations.
In the run up to her hike, Sarah pledged that every £10 donation would include the contributor’s name and date of donation being “engraved” on the Irish tricolour that will travelled with her up Everest.
This she said acted as a “symbol of encouragement, resilience, and pushing ever upwards during one of the toughest endurance challenges on Earth”.
So proud of her achievement are her local community that they arranged a homecoming for her return to the village.
On Tuesday May 26, Sarah was showered with well-deserved praise in Cardinal O’Fiaich Square.
Crowds awaiting her arrival at 7pm, lined the streets with flags and banners to celebrate her success.
The woman of the hour was in high demand when she arrived at the square with kids scrambling to get a treasured photo with a young woman who has achieved what many will only dream about!
She took a few minutes of time to speak with Armagh I about her breath-taking adventure.
Check out the video below and hear what she had to say.
