The Irish name Gabhal Mhór may seem odd as a name for a mountain, but it appears to have developed from Sliabh na Gaibhle, 'mountain of the fork'. This accounts for the anglicised form Slieve Goul found in several 19th century sources. It is unclear what exactly the fork is, but it may be a confluence of streams referred to in the name of the nearby townland, Kealagowlane (Ir. Caol an Ghabhláin, 'marsh/narrowing of the little fork'). Gabhal Mhór stands in contrast to Gabhal Bheag, Gowlbeg Mountain, its lower neighbour. For the origin of the English name, see Sugarloaf Hill in Wicklow for an explanation of hills called Sugarloaf.
Sugarloaf Mountain is the 320th highest summit in Ireland. Our data has reached 52% of the goal for this summit. (Details)
Picture: Loooking over Bantry bay, Whiddy island in the centre Expand pics.
New Comment Shipwrecks and the French by jackill Tue 31 Aug
The Sugarloaf with its whitewashed pillar stands sentry over Bantry bay.
The bay itself has seen the devils own share of history and tragedy.
The town of Bantry was the place where an attempt to land and launch a rebellion was made by a French fleet, with Wolfe Tone, in December 1796. The French fleet consisting of 43 ships carrying 15,000 troops had divided mid-Atlantic into smaller groups to avoid interception by the Royal Navy with orders to reform at Bantry Bay. The bulk of the fleet arrived successfully, but several ships, including the flagship Fraternité carrying General Hoche were delayed. While awaiting their arrival, bad weather intervened and the lack of leadership, together with uneasiness at the prospect of being trapped, forced the decision to return to France. Tone wrote of the expedition in his diary, saying that "We were close enough to toss a biscuit ashore." The square in Bantry is today named after Wolfe Tone.
On January 8, 1979, 50 people were killed when a French oil tanker, the Betelgeuse, was offloading at Whiddy Island when it caught fire, exploded, and broke into three pieces.
The bay has had numerous shipwrecks over the years. In 1981, while clean up efforts using sonar sweeps for the Betelgeuse were under way, the wreck of the French frigate La Surveillante, which had been scuttled during a storm north of Whiddy Island on 2 January 1797, was found (Comment Rating 4.00)
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by simon3 27 May 2003
When you finally reach Sugarloaf's top you find that it has this unusual brightly painted white trig pillar shown in the picture. The mountain in the background is Toberavanaha, almost as high as Sugarloaf, but not nearly as well known. (Comment Rating 3.00)
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by simon3 27 May 2003
Claude Wall [Mountaineering in Ireland] said of this mountain: ‘Slieve na Goill (1,887), “the misty hill”, popularly known as Sugarloaf Mountain, is an isolated cone a few miles from Glengariff noteworthy as the best viewpoint of Bantry Bay’. I can certainly agree that it has great views over Bantry Bay but “isolated cone”, no not so. It looks like a cone from the east, such as the Glengarriff area but not from north or south. It isn’t all that isolated either. The east top of Toberavanaha is only about 750m away. The photo is a view to the north east, towards an unnamed hill of around 375m. Fading into the heat-haze on the extreme right is Shrone Hill, another place very prominent from Glengarriff. (Comment Rating 2.50)
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by milo 29 Apr 2003
Eat your heart out Enniskerry! Glad to say no access problems climbing it from the Beara Way on Bank Holiday Monday '03 (Comment Rating 2.25)
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by DA 1 May 2003
damien about Sugarloaf Mountain A special climb for every season!
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(End of comment section for Sugarloaf Mountain. Recent comments about other mountains below.)
exaisle7 hours ago. I thought this was a short but punishing climb although I'm not as fit as I should be.
There is just one short respite but as soon as one leaves the road, it's tough from the word go....well, ...
exaisle7 hours ago. If the hangover is bad, you might consider the spin up Mount Gabriel. There is an access road about a mile or so outside Schull...it's tarmac all the way up and the views are excellent.
Of cou...
exaisle7 hours ago. I'll be honest, it was 25degrees and the sun was beating down. Tipp and Waterford were on the field and I could hear the clash of the ash over the car radio.
So I said feckit, and drove up.
...
Collaborative entry Last edit by: jackill14 hours ago. Park on the roadside at S112 083 (Point A) on the Mellary to Newcastle road just after you cross the border to Tipperary and an abandoned farmhouse. There is room here for 5-6 cars.
You will noti...
Collaborative entry Last edit by: jackill14 hours ago. Park on the roadside at S112 083 on the Mellary to Newcastle road just after you cross the border to Tipperary and an abandoned farmhouse. There is room here for 5-6 cars.
You will notice there a...
kernowclimber2 days ago. A steep climb up a series of steps (ouch) from the Hare's Gap to the summit of Slievenaglogh rewards the climber with incredible views over Slieve Bearnagh, Slieve Meelmore and Ben Crom Reservoir....
gouganebarraa day ago. Conor74, I'd suggest that you could climb Shehy Mor (and combine it with Djouce and Doughill mountains for a longer walk). The best access for climbing Shehy Mor is from the unclassified road whic...
grzywaczmarcin2 days ago. Descending from Scarr and Kanturk I met Ronnie Petrie memorial. I tried to find some information about him in the network but all I found is that he was involved in process of opening lands around...
jackill2 days ago. The Sugarloaf with its whitewashed pillar stands sentry over Bantry bay.
The bay itself has seen the devils own share of history and tragedy.
The town of Bantry was the place where an attempt t...
three5four02 days ago. Climbed Little Sugar Loaf after the ascent of Great Sugar Loaf, earlier that morning. Found the spirals cut into the rock on the summit, but not those on the north top mentioned by mcrtchly. New o...
Conor74a day ago. Heading to a stag this weekend, so will be down in West Cork and probably needing a hangover cure on Sunday - could even go early enough Saturday too if it meant bagging a good few summits in any ...