Rathdowney Resources Ltd. initiates drilling in Ireland

VANCOUVER, April 11 /CNW/ - John Barry, President and CEO of Rathdowney Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: RTH) (the "Company" or "Rathdowney") is pleased to announce that diamond drilling has commenced on the first of forty-five drill-ready zinc-lead targets located in the Irish Midlands Ore Field, an area of world class zinc-lead deposits.

Drilling started with one rig operating on April 8, 2011 at the Company's Mallow property in southern Ireland. The 337-square kilometer Mallow project area is south of the Pallas Green district where major new zinc-lead discoveries have been made by Teck and Xstrata (inferred resources of 25.9 million tonnes grading 7.51% Zn and 1.38% lead at 4% zinc eq cut-off, Minco plc website). Two additional rigs will be added to test other priority targets within the Mallow project-area and at the Westmeath South property.

Mallow and Westmeath South are two of eight project-areas held by Rathdowney in the Irish Midlands. Over the past two years, Rathdowney has undertaken extensive soil geochemical sampling and airborne geophysical surveys over its ground and established compelling zinc-lead drill-targets on six of the project-areas. An initial 15,000 metres of exploration drilling is planned to test 45 priority targets.

Rathdowney is a mineral exploration and development company associated with Hunter Dickinson Inc. (HDI). The Company is focused on finding and developing the next generation of base metal deposits in the ore fields of Poland and Ireland.

HDI is a diversified, global mine development company with a 25-year history of mineral development success. From its head office in Vancouver, Canada, HDI applies its unique strengths and capabilities to acquire, develop, operate and monetize mineral properties that provide consistently superior returns to shareholders.


On behalf of the Board of Directors

John Barry
President & CEO



Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address permitting, exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the Company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continuity of mineralization, potential environmental issues or liabilities associated with exploration, development and mining activities, uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary permits, licenses and title and delays due to third party opposition, changes in government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company, investors should review the Company's continuous disclosure filings that are available at www.sedar.com.



For further information:

For further details on Rathdowney and its properties in Ireland and Poland, please visit www.rathdowneyresources.com or contact Investor Relations at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114