MountainViews: Info on Ben of Howth Binn Éadair (171m) in area East Coast

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East Coast Area

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Maximum height for area: 251 metres

Summits in area: 2

OS Map(s): 36, 43, 50 for all tops

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Ben of Howth Hill	Dublin County
Binn Éadair A name in Irish	(Language)
(Ir. Binn Éadair [GE], 'peak of Étar')
Height: 171 metres	OS 1/50k Mapsheet: 50 for top
Grid Ref: O28548 37620	Latitude: 53.373358 Longitude: -6.069328
ITM: 728468 737645	Prominence: 167m Isolation: 19.0km
Binn Éadair (The Ben/Hill of Howth) is one of the most frequently cited hills in Irish literature. It is the subject of two poems in the Metrical Dindshenchas and in Acallam na Senórach it is the scene of a great hunt, during which Artúir (a character b Ben of Howth is the second highest hill in the East Coast area and the 1054th highest in Ireland. Ben of Howth is the most southerly summit in the East Coast area and also the most easterly. Our data has reached 80% of the goal for this summit. (Details)

COMMENTS for Ben of Howth

MountainViews.ie Picture about mountain Ben of Howth in area East Coast, County Dublin, Ireland

Picture: View north from Ben of Howth. Expand pics.

The Low but surprisingly Rough top of Howth

Short Summary created by simon3, Dessie1 22 Feb 2011 The Windgate Road drive to the starting point is very steep so care is required. Starting from O2889437678 (Point A) you will see a carved stone sign for Greenhallows Quarries with room here to park 2-3 cars. The entrance to the left is private property so be sure to stay beside the right entrance. Follow the path/road west for roughly 10 minutes to the open 171m summit which has a large mast and a trig pillar. Excellent views of Ireland's Eye and the East Coast.

Point A: O28894 37678

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Comment Rating (3.00)

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EASTWARD HOWTH

by Bleck Cra 24 Sep 2012 I should just add to Simon 3’s and other contributors’ enthusiasm for Howth.
If you don’t know it, it is a complete surprise. If it is a challenge you are looking for, you will not find it here; but if you want a gentle saunter along a fabulous jagged coastline, do it now – well not now, in the blinding rain …..
Get lucky and you will see dolphins. Get even luckier and you can climb down into one of its hidden coves and Zzzzzzzzz in the sun.
That would be the bright, round, yellow thing historians tell us about.
On the ascent out of the city world below, there is a pub and on the road home, you can buy fish straight out of the sea.
There are moments you will barely know you are part of the mainland, let alone 10 mins out of Dub.
Magical, unexpected - and compulsory.

(Comment Rating 4.33) Your Score: Very useful << >>Average

Picture: Half an hour from Dublin City Centre Expand pics.

by padodes 7 Feb 2010 I love my quartzite, and nowhere more than on the Ben of Howth in Dublin where it has fused with iron and taken on all the warmer hues: pink to red, golden yellow to rusty brown. It’s even more attractive than the rose-tinted quartzite of Bray Head or the whitish variety of the Great and Little Sugar Loaf in Wicklow. It’s a good rock to walk on, too, since it yields a thin soil that doesn’t support much growth. It hasn’t got the messy habit of clothing itself in deep bog like granite, or the nasty one of turning to soap in wet weather like schist. It’s the kind of rock you can stride on with jaunty confidence.

There are really two bens on the Howth peninsula. The slightly lower one, Shielmartin, lies to the west and rises above the raised beach at Sutton that now links what was once an island to the mainland. The higher one, the Ben of Howth proper, with its trig pillar and ubiquitous mast, lies to the east and is just the cockiest of several surrounding hummocks. At this end, the pockmarks of old quarries are a reminder of how prized Howth rock has been in the past as a decorative stone for building. Between the two bens, Howth Golf Club has managed to turn what was once rough lowland into manicured greens (see photo). Not being a golfer, I’m never sure whether to consider this a stroke of ingenuity (pardon the pun) or just an intrusive incongruity.

It’s easy to turn a ramble across the bens of Howth into a fine circular excursion by linking it with a stretch of the cliff walk between Howth and Sutton. Guidebooks are full of indications in that direction. All along the way, the views are exceptional. My own snapshot, taken from the vantage point of Shielmartin, looks across to Howth Harbour and Ireland’s Eye (itself mainly of quartzite, too), with Howth Castle tucked away just to the left of the trees. The great white veil in the distance marks the approach of a hailstorm that would soon wrap itself around me.

P.S. Yes, with a film of frost, or mud, or lichen, quartzite can become slippery. Like any good wine, it, too, needs to be savoured with care.

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Picture: Windswept views. Expand pics.

Benny Hill!

by Dessie1 17 Sep 2011 Updated:Climbed Ben of howth with my 2 kids and wife.I started from the quarry on Windgate rd on a Windy Sunday afternoon.Views on top were very good considering misty conditions.Stay was short due the blustery wind.A very easy tick off the list.

(Comment Rating 3.57) Your Score: Very useful << >>Average

Picture: The view north from the summit, with Lambay Island and Ireland's Eye visible. Expand pics.

by csd 18 Oct 2009 Arguably one of the easiest bags for Dublin-based folk, it's remarkable that Ben of Howth has escaped comment for this long! This is one that stretches the "mountain" in MountainViews to the limit. Anyway, access is easy from Windgate Road, there's a laneway all the way to the top from the quarry entrance. Views are great in all directions; as a southsider it gives a perspective on the city that I'm not used to. There are no less than three radio installations dotting the general summit area, but c'mon, you weren't really expecting wilderness on Howth, were you?

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Picture: Misty view west from Howth Expand pics.

City views

by simon3 24 Sep 2012 I note that previous photographers on visiting this summit have uploaded pictures to the north, showing Ireland's Eye, a place well worth seeing and indeed visiting.
However the general area of the Ben of Howth has great views over the city of Dublin, such as this view to the west with Croke Park and Beaumont Hospital at the right.

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