wicklore on Slievecoiltia

Slievecoiltia is a hill next to the JFK Arboretum in Wexford, and is part of the same overall park. It has an access road that has opening times. Unlike the JFK Arboretum you dont have to pay. The entrance road for the hill is at B (S729 194) (OS Map 76). There are numerous places to park along the 3 km road that leads to the top so its your choice where to start walking. (You can even park at the summit if you want)

The summit area is a pleasant grassy field next to the car park. Stunning views are available in all directions. As Sunday was a lovely clear day I could see Hook Head Lighthouse, Waterford City, the Comeraghs, the Galtees (85 kms away),Slievenamon, the Blackstairs, Brandon Hill, and a host of minor hills and villages. There were many people about enjoying their Sunday outing and one of them, an elderly man, came over to chat. He must have seen my gps unit as I was busy capturing the summit info for MV. He introduced himself as Danny Burke who used to work for the Ordnance Survey of Ireland. We enjoyed a great chat as he explained about the work he used to do. He told me that in the 1960s he was one of many staff that were sent out to find and rediscover the many hundreds of Trig Points that had been used in the original ordnance survey. He said that these were only clay tablets in the ground and he described the difficulty and adventure in seeking them across the country in often terrible conditions. They then built the modern trig pillars in their place that we see today, which they used for their new survey. Of further interest was that he said the measurements were done at night, with people on each summit using bright helium lights to be visible to other surveyors up to 40 kms away.

I thought this was fascinating stuff and it really brought these anonymous concrete pillars to life for me. I considered some of the trig pillars I had seen buried in forests and gorse that had slipped into obscurity, probably never to be used again. With modern technology they would now be as defunct as the original clay tablets Danny referred to.

The pleasant summit includes a board pointing out the many distant mountains and their names. There is also a 1798 memorial stone at the summit which states: - The rebels camped on Slieve Coillte from the 7th to 10th June. Bagenal Harvey resigned his command here. He was succeeded by Fr Philip Roche. A detachment under the command of Thomas Cloney attacked the gunboats on the river Barrow at Fisherstown. -

This odd, stilted account no doubt refers to a meaningful episode of the 1798 Rebellion, but it could have been expanded to be more informative

Despite the crowds Slievecoiltia is really well worth a visit if you are in the area, but only on a day that allows you to get the most out of the amazing views. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/982/comment/4264/

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Serial Summiteer!

Spotted this brilliant Peacock butterfly flying around the planted oaks off the access road on Slievecoilltia.
Also, in the time my wife and I walked to the top and back, an energetic young man jogged to the top and back 4 times! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/982/comment/6478/

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Access Closed During Drought

The road up Slievecoiltia, from the entrance opposite the JFK arboretum, is currently closed owing to the risk of fire arising from the current dry spell in the South East. Expect this to continue until the rain returns. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/982/comment/19980/

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She said yes!

Nothing additional to add to simon3's comments. As this hill is the only prominent ground in the area, the views are better than you would expect from such a small hill. As good a place as any to bend the knee. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/982/comment/20188/

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Will explore next time.

There is a drive to the top. Busy place. Good views from the top. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/982/comment/18896/

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