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Binnion: Tullagh Bay and Rockstown Harbour

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Double bag mostly on windfarm tracks.

Good, relatively easy double bag

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Wicklow Area   W: Donard Subarea
Place count in area: 115, OSI/LPS Maps: 28B, 55, 56, 61, 62, AWW, EW-DM, EW-LG, EW-WE, EW-WS 
Highest place:
Lugnaquilla, 924.7m
Maximum height for area: 924.7 metres,     Maximum prominence for area: 905 metres,

Places in area Wicklow:
Cen: Glendalough North:   Brockagh Mountain 556.9mBrockagh Mountain NW Top 549.5mBrockagh Mountain SE Top 471.7mCamaderry East Top 677.3mCamaderry Mountain 698.6mConavalla 734mTomaneena 682.4m
Cen: Glendalough South:   Carriglineen Mountain 456.6mCullentragh Mountain 510mDerrybawn Mountain 476.1mKirikee Mountain 474.5mLugduff 653.2mLugduff SE Top 638mMullacor 660.7mTrooperstown Hill 430m
N Cen: Tonelagee:   Carrignagunneen 561mFair Mountain 571.2mStoney Top 713.7mTonelagee 815.8mTonelagee E Top 668mTonelagee South-East Top 545.8m
NE: Bray & Kilmacanogue:   Bray Head Hill 238.9mCarrigoona Commons East 242mDowns Hill 372.9mGreat Sugar Loaf 501.2mLittle Sugar Loaf 342.4m
NE: Djouce:   Djouce 725.5mKnockree 342.1mMaulin 570mTonduff 642mTonduff East Top 593mWar Hill 684.8mWhite Hill 631.1m
NE: Fancy:   Ballinafunshoge 480mKanturk 527.4mKnocknacloghoge 532.4mLuggala 593.3mRobber's Pass Hill 508.9mScarr 640mScarr North-West Top 559.8mSleamaine 430m
NE: Vartry:   Ballinacorbeg 336mBallycurry 301mDunranhill 342mMount Kennedy 365.9m
NW: Blessington:   Carrigleitrim 408mLugnagun 446.2mSlieveroe 332mSorrel Hill 599.5m
NW: Mullaghcleevaun:   Black Hill 602.2mCarrigshouk 572.5mCarrigvore 682.4mDuff Hill 720.8mGravale 719mMoanbane 703mMullaghcleevaun 846.7mMullaghcleevaun East Top 796mSilsean 698m
S: Aughrim Hills:   Cushbawn 400mKilleagh 249mMoneyteige North 427mPreban Hill 389m
S: Croaghanmoira:   Ballinacor Mountain 529.3mBallycurragh Hill 536mBallyteige 447mCarrickashane Mountain 508mCroaghanmoira 662.3mCroaghanmoira North Top 579.5mFananierin 426mSlieve Maan 547.8mSlieve Maan North Top 546.1m
S: Croghan Kinsella:   Annagh Hill 454mCroghan Kinsella 606mCroghan Kinsella East Top 562.1mSlievefoore 414m
S: Shillelagh Hills:   Lakeen 357mMonaughrim 206mSeskin 344mStookeen 420m
S: Tinahely Hills:   Ballycumber Hill 429.7mEagle Hill 296mMuskeagh Hill 398.2m
SE: Wicklow South East:   Ballinastraw 284mBallyguile Hill 188mBarranisky 280mCarrick Mountain 381mCollon Hill 238mKilnamanagh Hill 217mWestaston Hill 270m
W: Baltinglass:   Ballyhook Hill 288mBaltinglass Hill 382mCarrig Mountain 571mCarrigeen Hill 298mCloghnagaune 385mCorballis Hill 258mKeadeen Mountain 653mSpinans Hill 409mSpinans Hill SE Top 400mTinoran Hill 312m
W: Cen Lugnaquilla:   Ballineddan Mountain 652.3mBenleagh 689mCamenabologue 758mCamenabologue SE Top 663mCloghernagh 800mCorrigasleggaun 794.6mLugnaquilla 924.7mSlievemaan 759.7m
W: Donard:   Brewel Hill 222mChurch Mountain 544mCorriebracks 531mLobawn 636mSlievecorragh 418mSugarloaf 552mTable Mountain 701.7mTable Mountain West Top 563m

Note: this list of places includes island features such as summits, but not islands as such.
Rating graphic.
Church Mountain Mountain Sliabh gCod A name in Irish, also Slieve Gad, also Slieve Gadoe an extra EastWest name in English (Ir. Sliabh gCod [logainm.ie], 'mountain of [obscure element]') Wicklow County in Leinster Province, in Arderin List, Granite with microcline phenocrysts Bedrock

Height: 544m OS 1:50k Mapsheet: 56 Grid Reference: N94877 01261
Place visited by 340 members. Recently by: Padraigin, KateLeckie, davidrenshaw, MeabhTiernan, Carolyn105, Carolineswalsh, Shaina, MickM45, abacusms, Kaszmirek78, michaelseaver, NualaB, jimmytherabbit, Alanjm, FerdiaScully
I have visited this place: NO (You need to be a logged-in member to change this.)

Longitude: -6.585862, Latitude: 53.053851 , Easting: 294877, Northing: 201261 Prominence: 129m,  Isolation: 2.1km,   Has trig pillar
ITM: 694803 701291,   GPS IDs, 6 char: ChrcMn, 10 char: ChrchMntn
Bedrock type: Granite with microcline phenocrysts, (Type 2p microcline porphyritic)

This mountain is first mentioned under the name Sliabh an Chodaigh, 'mountain of the covenant' in a tale dating from before the 12th century. Subsequently the name appears as Sliabh gCod or similar, which is obscure in meaning, unless it is simply a corruption of the earlier form. The site is pre-Christian. There are the remains of a large cairn on top of the mountain. The stones have evidently been scattered into irregular heaps. There is a partially cleared space in the middle, in which there are the foundations of a building, apparently a small ancient church.... Lewis (Topog. Dictionary, 1837, s.v. Donard) says that numerous pilgrims resort to the church on the top of the mountain to visit a well which is close to the walls. This well is still known, and I have heard it called St. Gad's Well by local people [Price, PNCW]. See Máire MacNeill, 'The Festival of Lughnasa' (pp. 96-101) for details of the mountain pilgrimage. Also called Slieve Gad.   Church Mountain is the 434th highest place in Ireland.

Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/367/
COMMENTS for Church Mountain (Sliabh gCod) 1 2 Next page >>  
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MountainViews.ie Picture about mountain Church Mountain (<i>Sliabh gCod</i>) in area Wicklow, Ireland
Picture: Church Mountain from Lobawn.
 
Flattish wooded summit with views to the Kildare plains.
Short Summary created by simon3  7 Jun 2013
This west Wicklow summit can be visited itself for a short up and down walk or will fit into various longer walks. One way of ascending is from around the car park at N9343 0239 starA on the minor road there. Start on a track directly up from there. It is possible to reach it from the east from around N9804 0038 starB taking in Corriebracks. Plan your route carefully through the forestry.
The summit has a number of ruins on top. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/367/comment/5126/
 
MountainViews.ie Picture about mountain Church Mountain (<i>Sliabh gCod</i>) in area Wicklow, Ireland
Picture: South-facing side
padodes on Church Mountain, 2008
by padodes  1 Oct 2008
Returning recently to Church Mountain – or Sliabh Gad(oe), or Sliabh an Chodaigh, as it is variously called – I was as intrigued as ever by the size of the cairn on top and its metamorphosis in later times. This finally prompted me to do a little armchair exploration.

The prehistoric cairn is approximately 25m in diameter and stands 3m high at its most elevated point today. In Christian times, the centre was hollowed out and a little church was built inside. In itself, this is hardly surprising, since it would correspond to the common early Christian practice of ‘baptising’ pagan cultic sites. In the specific case of Church Mountain, historical speculation has been carried a little further. It is known that Palladius, St. Patrick’s less successful predecessor in bringing Christianity to Ireland, came to West Wicklow around 431 AD and established a church there, his second, at a place called ‘Domnacha Arda’. Might not this be the origin of the placename Donard (rather than Dún Ard, as others suggest)? Translated as ‘the church of the high field’, this placename would indicate that Palladius’ chapel was located, not in today’s Donard village, but on the nearby (Church) mountain, atop the cairn or passage grave that was there. Although the vestiges of the church that are visible today – a scant 9 x 6m rectangular outline – are from a later period and dated to the 12th century, it would be reasonable to think that the more recent church will have replaced others, going back to an early Christian structure. One thing, at least, is certain: there has been a long-standing tradition of Christian pilgrimage linked to the mountain. George Petrie, “the father of Irish archaeology”, wrote in 1808 that every year, on Lammas Day (1st August), hundreds of people would ascend the mountain on their knees and a priest recite prayers from the altar, but the practice had ceased after the 1798 rebellion. His friend, the professor of antiquities G. N. Wright, speaks in his “Guide to the County of Wicklow” (1827) of the ruins of a chapel on the summit “where numbers of pilgrims and penitents are constantly to be found, engaged in acts of devotion” and also mentions a holy well, close to the ruined walls, “whose surface is only two feet below the highest point of the mountain, and the spring continues to flow the whole year without much increase or diminution; the water has rather an unpleasant, astringent taste, resembling bog-water, although it is perfectly clear” (p.166).

You will look in vain today for pagan spectres or Christian pilgrims on Church Mountain. Personally, I have never met any. They have been replaced by the serried ranks of drab commercial forestry, marching up on all sides. As I saw on my last visit, even the ultimate indignity of quad biking has not been spared the mountain. It is anyone’s guess if it will be allowed to retain into the future a remnant of the character that made it so special in the past. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/367/comment/3346/
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MountainViews.ie Picture about mountain Church Mountain (<i>Sliabh gCod</i>) in area Wicklow, Ireland
Picture: Summit with Cairn
 
dunnejohn on Church Mountain, 2009
by dunnejohn  3 Apr 2009
I recently hiked Church Mountain with my wife and daughter - it was a nice family day out for Mothers Day! We came from Dublin and took a nice drive through the Hollywood Glen, before turning left at Hell Kettle Br.
At the end of the laneway where the track begins you end up in farmyard with several farm buidings and farmhouse (OS sheet 56, GR S946 993 starC). For anyone planning approaching the hill from here, it's a good idea to check with the farmer if it's ok to park there, as it's a bit tight for space. We did, and found him to be a very friendly and helpful gent.
As mentioned by csd in his comment, the forestry plantation is now much more extensive than marked on the map, currently extending to approx. GR S953 999 starD on the map. Here a track runs uphill due west along the perimeter fence of the forestry plantation, before turning due north, again staying along the border of the forestry, at approx. GR S951 999 starE, and then runs along the ridge that runs north/south along the spine of the mountain (there's a conveniently placed bench at this point if you're out of breath from the steep hike from the main track!).
From here it's a gentle ascent along a dead straight track until near the summit. As you approach the summit the terrain flattens a little, and it may be tempting to leave the track and head accross the heather to find the cairn and triangulation pillar. Dont!! There's a much easier way. Keey your eyes open for the stones arranged in the shape of a cross on your right, at the edge of the forestry fence (it's beside a fence post which is supported by a couple of large rocks). The bottom point of the cross points roughly NW - let your eye follow this direction, and you will see the old eroded trail which leads directly to the summit.
Beside the extensive Cairn, atop of which sits the trig. pillar, there's a lovely stone bench erected in memory of a local man. Nice to take a seat and take in the view NE. If you need a more sheltered place to sit, on the SW side of the Cairn there's a stone enclosure with some flat rocks ideal for sitting out of the wind and enjoying that well deserved cup of tea! Cheers! Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/367/comment/3698/
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MountainViews.ie Picture about mountain Church Mountain (<i>Sliabh gCod</i>) in area Wicklow, Ireland
csd on Church Mountain, 2003
by csd  22 Jun 2003
Church Mountain offers some great views over west Wicklow and the southern Wicklow Mountains. If coming from Corriebracks, access to the summit can be gained by way of an eroded track that runs up the firebreak on the eastern slopes. The conifer plantation is now much more extensive than shown on Sheet 56, covering most of the eastern side of the mountain. There are a trig pillar and the remains of a prehistoric cairn at the summit (see pic). Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/367/comment/561/
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MountainViews.ie Picture about mountain Church Mountain (<i>Sliabh gCod</i>) in area Wicklow, Ireland
 
GWPR on Church Mountain, 2003
by GWPR  30 Oct 2003
Trig. Pillar on Church Mt. with Blessington Lakes in background. Oct 2003. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/367/comment/731/
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Different Ways Up
by Pepe  23 Jul 2016
I started from N9343 0239 starA and followed the forestry track. Somehow though I took a wrong turning (on an inviting looking greenway path) and found myself at a dead end in the forestry. Luckily though I was less than a 100 yards from the forest edge. I made for the obvious sunlight through the trees and emerged with the forest on my left. The route up from here is obvious, though it entailed getting over a barbed wire fence. On the other side of the fence a very rough track (of sorts) helped me ascend to where I found the track I should have been on in the first place. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/367/comment/18599/
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