The Summit

MountainViews newsletter for guestuser

June 2019

HILLWALKING
NEWS - INFORMATION - RECENT CONTRIBUTIONS - FEATURES - FORUMS

UPCOMING EVENTS for HILLWALKERS

• The Winter Talks are over for another season.
• REPORT 8th April 2019. There was a talk by members Martin Critchley and Sharron Schwartz of "Purple Peak Adventures" with a title of "Trekking the Realms of Vulcan: Adventures in the volcanic highlands of Iceland and Ethiopia".
  

  
  Black sand desert - Laugavegur, Iceland

  Attendees were treated to a fascinating talk by these two seasoned veterans.

Beennabrack is situated on the southern end of the Brandon ridge just north of the Conor Pass.

For original summit, click here.

Regions: MOUNTAIN COMMENTS - TRIP REPORTS - TRACKS - SUMMARIES
In short: Discovery

MOTLEY GATHERING

The Ballyhouras

By John Fitzgerald *

The Ballyhouras – Hiking in a historic landscape

In advance of taking my hiking group to the hinterland of my youth (I hail from the Cork side of the Ballyhouras), I decided to brush up on my knowledge of local history so that I might enhance my fellow hikers “experience”.  Whether this turned out to be an enhancement or an endurance test is for others to tell.   Here’s the summary version.

The routes mentioned in the text.

We chose the Darragh Hills Loop walk for the day of our arrival.  This eastern part of the Ballyhouras is separated from the main part by the R512 Kildorrery to Kilmallock road.  The trail-head is at R722 169; just turn off R517 at the former Darragh Creamery.   There are three way-marked trails, all suitable for families.  Part of this track aligns with the Cork-Limerick boundary.  Approaching this county boundary in September 2018, we were reminded of our exact location by the Limerick flag flying atop Castle Gale Hillfort (Carrighenry on Discover Map 73), Limerick being the recently crowned All Ireland hurling champions.  Carrigeenamronety is the high point on this loop, and contains the rare Killarney Fern on its slopes.   This 8.4km loop walk is already recorded and described at /track/3027/

Top of Seefin

Next day, we hiked the Seefin Loop from the Ballyhoura Trailriders car park (R 655 186).  They operate extensive bike trails, and are very helpful with information on closed trails, etc.  The 14.6km loop is way-marked and is available with full description at /track/2376/ .  For families, it is possible to reduce this hike in two ways, firstly, a car can be left at the car park, with a second car driven to an alternative starting point at the off-road access to Seefin at R 663 117 which takes 2km off the route.  Secondly, the trail is way-marked left at R 647 181, but going straight ahead at this point further reduces the hike to 9.5km.   Refreshments are available at Ballyhoura Trailriders, but Thatch and Thyme in the 250-year old building in Kildorrery Village is to be recommended for its good food and character.

Castle Oliver

 Seefin offers a spectacular view across to Castle Oliver, a Victorian mock castle and estate formerly owned by a family of Cromwellian settlers of that name.  The house contains the largest wine cellar in Ireland that can hold 55,000 bottles.  The most renowned member of the family was Eliza Gilbert (1821-1861), the mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, and who was directly responsible for him having to abdicate his kingdom.  Eliza duly reinvented herself as Lola Montez, the Spanish dancer, in which role she achieved fame (and renewed fortune) throughout Europe, Australia and America before her untimely death in New York.  Her very eventful life is just one of the many stories told in Turtle Bunbury’s book, “1847 – a Chronicle of Genius, Generosity and Savagery”, published by Gill, which I can highly recommend.

My music teacher (briefly, when I was young), was Christine Steepe from Ballyorgan, Christine being a descendant of the Palatines. Often confused with the Pallotine religious order, the Palatines originated in the Lower German Palatinate.  How they ended up on landlords estates in Ireland in 1709 is well told in “People Make Places: Story of the Irish Palatines” by Patrick J. O’Connor.  There is also the Irish Palatine Association, which has a museum in Rathkeale, and which has a website with more information. In 1759, some 50  years after arrival in Ireland, there was a resettlement of 66 families from the Southwell Estate near Rathkeale to the Oliver Estate in the Ballyhouras.  With a policy of keeping the Palatines apart from the rebellious Irish, the villages of Ballyorgan and Glenosheen were created on adjacent boundaries of the Oliver Estate.   The resettled Palatines were still German-speaking Lutherans in 1759, had adopted the Methodist religion in their new homeland and indeed were visited on a number of occasions by John Wesley. They wore clothes in their own custom, and even had a burgomeister.  Glenosheen originally had six houses on each side of the road, forming a little street that ran up the hill towards Seefin (photo).  With their background in vineyards, these expert, diligent tillers of the soil, tamed the foothills of Seefin, clearing the oak forest to make allotments of 3 acres per family, and also grew flax as well as fruit and vegetables. Whilst the Palatines eventually merged into the local community, they were still distinct in my youth.  Today, their main legacy is the family names of Steepe, Fizzell, Heck, Bovenizer, Alton, Bartman, Schumaker, etc.  The best known is Switzer, of that well know department store.

Glenosheen Historical View

A sign at Glenosheen points to the home of the Joyce Brothers. Patrick (1827-1914) was educated in hedge schools in Kilfinnane and Mitchelstown, but went on to graduate with an MA from Trinity College Dublin and became a leading scholar, historian and music-collector. His brother, Robert (1830-1883) graduated in medicine from Queens College Cork (now UCC), became Professor of English at Maynooth University and then practiced medicine in Boston.  He was also a poet and a Fenian, being friendly with John Devoy and Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa in America.  He wrote such songs as The Wind that Shakes the Barley and The Boys of Wexford.  Space does not permit reference to other writers with an association with the area, other than Canon Sheehan.

Palatine House, Glenosheen

The Canon Sheehan Loop is a short, family friendly 7 km loop at Glenanaar, some 3 km southwest of Glenosheen.  Taking L1239 from Ardpatrick, it is accessed at R653 134, and is fully way-marked.  Canon Sheehan (1852-1913) was Parish Priest of Doneraile when he wrote Glenanaar in 1905, a novel based on the 1829 “Doneraile Conspiracy Trials” in which Daniel O’Connell came to the defence of those charged of murder before the Grand Jury in Cork.  A brother of one of the prisoners left Cork on the Saturday evening and rode a horse 90 miles to Derrynane, arriving at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.  O’Connell travelled to Cork through the night, arriving in Cork at 8:00 a.m. on Monday and was given permission by the court to eat his breakfast as the case commenced.   The case is too complicated to explain here, but the protagonists were from the immediate vicinity of today’s Canon Sheehan Loop.   Hen harriers are to be seen beside the Ogeen River on this loop walk.

Many hikers will know that the Ballyhoura Way (partially shown on the map) is part of the Beara-Breifne Way, the route taken by O’Sullivan Beare and his 1000 followers on his hasty retreat from West Cork to Leitrim.  They spent the third night on the hill overlooking Ardpatrick.  Having taken only one day’s supplies, and having raided some supplies on their second day, this was their first night without food.  Ardpatrick is also reputed to be the most southerly location visited by St. Patrick in Ireland, but please don’t ask me for evidence of this.

What the Black Ditch may have looked like.

At the very bottom of the map, I show one end of Cliadh Dubh, otherwise known as the Black Ditch, an Iron Age linear earthworks stretching 22 km across the Blackwater Valley from the Nagle Mountains to the Ballyhouras, and terminating close to the Canon Sheehan Loop.  Its purpose is unknown, but it was probably defensive.  It is comparable to the Black Pig’s Dyke that runs 200 km across Southern Ulster, the latter having been dated to between 500 – 25 BC.

The Black Ditch today.

I recently traversed 3.5 km of the Cliadh Dubh across country, and took the above photo. At least on this section, it is very difficult because it traverses across private farms; there were ploughed fields, electric fences, briars, etc, but it was always identifiable from the map, albeit in places now reduced to a bland ditch between fields. However, in places it still portrayed the robustness of a defensive structure. A reference article on the Cliadh Dubh is contained in Mallow Field Club Journal, issue No. 28 of 2010.   It is also marked on Discovery Series map No. 73. If one follows this map where it intersects roads, there are signs at the entrance to fields, the illustration above being one such sign.

Finally, what is the connection between Adolf Hitler and the Ballyhouras?  It’s very tenuous, it must be said.  Alois Hitler, Adolf’s half-brother, was a kitchen porter at the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin.  At the Dublin Horse Show in 1909, he introduced himself to Bridget Dowling as an “hotelier”.  They eloped to London in 1910 where they got married.  In due course, William Patrick Hitler was born in Liverpool, where he was baptised by Fr. Nicholas Cooke, and a native of Knockainey near the Ballyhouras.  To cut short the story, Paddy Hitler served in the US Navy during WW2, and was used for publicity purposes against his infamous uncle.

Enjoy the Ballyhouras on your next visit.  More information at http://visitballyhoura.com/

-- John Fitzgerald

* Note: coincidentally there are two John Fitzgeralds active on MountainViews. This John Fitzgerald goes by the MV name of jgfitz as distinct from the other jackill

The MountainViews ANNUAL, 2018.

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CHALLENGE
A place for those interested in Challenge Walking

Challenge Walks Newsletter June 2019

Blackstairs 2019 

As the rains abate and sunnier weather slowly teases, we leave May with The Challenge Walks Calendar well underway. The very start of that month saw a glorious day out for all the participants on The Causeway Coast Challenge. A beautiful coastal walk, seasoned Challenge Walker and legend in his own lunchtime, Ian Fitzpatrick, remarked how it was hard not to stop to look backwards at the incredible vistas . . . but no need, especially considering this would be the truth for the second half of the Day - as once the Walkers reach Portbradden, they then turn "about face" and retrace their steps back to Portballintrae passing Dunseverick Castle once again. Next year sees Bannside Rambling Club celebrate their 40th year hosting this Event!

Next year too, all going well, The Wayfarers Hillwalking Club hope to celebrate their 50th, yes 50th year of the ever popular Blackstairs Challenge - which this mid-May was once again a great success.

Pretty much all of the 262 walkers on the day finished and received well-earned Certificates. The weather was plenty hot in the cols and valleys, but not surprisingly, it was definitely fresh atop the higher contours. Take a closer look at the photo on the day . . . that's a biting mist spilling over the gentle rise before Mount Leinster! No call from the cuckoo at   Carrigalachan Gap Checkpoint this year – but the tea was in full flow and sure isn’t that every bit as good as a winning lottery ticket!!

The Blackstairs is the perfect Challenge Walk to cut your teeth into for the first time, so it was one Walk that over the years I managed to coerce all the Brats to come along on (walkers over 16 years allowed). Always great to watch as they admit to not realising how tough the day could be. Enjoy their surprise too, as they can't believe how nimble their Daddy is ("considering he's loike sooo fat and loike a hundred years old!! ").

Rolling into June and the 29th of the month sees Galtee Walking Club host The Galtee Challenge (31km with a 1700 meter ascent), always an enjoyable day tracing the mighty summits over these hills. A week earlier and the Kingdom calls as Annascaul Walking Club host The Tom Crean Endurance Walk (31km with a 1750 meter ascent) - yet another Walk that sells out quicker than Hugh Jackman matinée tickets! But before either of these two thoroughly enjoyable outings - the legendary Lug Walk beckons . . .

As has been said before, this is a full day . . . and, this is one of the toughest dates on the Challenge Walks Calendar! Taking place on the 15th June with an ascent of around 2450 metres, the Walk comes with a serious mileage count of 37 in old money (56 arduous kilometres in new dosh).

Up at 3:30 (yes teenie-boppers, that's in the am!). Bus at 4:30 am. Walk at 5am . . . then considering that the final cut off time at Table Track is 5:30pm - there will be Walkers out for 14 hours and then some. Back at The Glen of Imaal with a day's entertainment over, it's still at least an hour and a half before the Challenge Walker gets to hit the leaba!

This will be an eighteen hour day for many!

I mean, Rise and Shine at 3:30 in the am and do absolutely nothing else for the rest of the day and you'd be totally Banjaxed either way! Held every other year and proudly hosted by The Irish Ramblers Hillwalking Club. Read here the Lug Walk Report from 2017 that makes for recommended and informative reading!

On the Blackstairs.

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As always, up to date information from the different organising parties can be found on the Challenge Walks Calendar

/challengecalendar/

Here too there'll be many a Report from different days on different Walks that certainly give an honest flavour of what to expect before the boots go on.

So Onwards and Upwards Boys and Girls and never forget how even in June the weather can turn in an instant . . . and pack a whistle, they weigh feck-all (useful Challenge tip no.47!).

Keep Safe and Enjoy your Day,

Jim Holmes.

-- Jim Holmes.

SUMMITEERS and PLACE-VISITORS CORNER
A place for those interested in Summiteering, Bagging, Highpointing, visiting islands and coastal places.

This month.
Kudos to our contributors.

NOTICES

• If you are contributing, please be careful to respect the interests of landowners. Suggest access routes well away from houses, gardens or that could conceivably impact farming activities. When walking, keep away from gardens or farm buildings. Use stiles or gates wherever possible. Never do anything that could allow animals to roam where the farmer did not intend. Ask permission where appropriate.
• Take care if parking and do not obstruct roads, lanes and field entrances to access by farm machinery, which can be large. Exercise your dog in parks or forests but avoid countryside or open hillside where they may worry sheep.
• Report suspicious activity to the police forces, as below.
• If your car is broken into in an upland area report it to the PSNI or Gardai as this will help them be aware of the issue and tackle it in future. Store the numbers. In Northern Ireland use the PSNI non-emergency number 0845 600 8000. In the Republic you can find the local Garda District HQs phone numbers at www.garda.ie/Stations/Default.aspx. Specifically for the hotspot of Wicklow: the Garda Divisional Headquarters in Bray is 01 6665300.
• If you hear of a problem area or route, write it up in MountainViews which does everyone a service.
  Report rubbish tipping in the Republic - ring EPA hotline 1850 365 121
  Report recreational quads in national park area (in which they are banned). They are also banned in the Mournes. For Wicklow please phone the Duty Ranger: 087-9803899 or the office during office hours Telephone: +353-404-45800. For the Mournes ring the PSNI (as above) or contact Mournes Heritage Trust. Put these numbers in your phone, take regs etc. Let MV know of contact numbers for other areas.
• If you have visited some of the less well known places, we would appreciate a place rating and also "Improve Grid Ref" for summits and other places.
• If you find errors in the basic information about places such as in their names, their heights, county name etc please use the "Propose Places Database Change" option.
• If we can, let's make MV have more than one route up a summit or to a place so as to reduce the tendency for paths to appear. Your grid refs in comments for different starting points show up on MountainViews maps as well as shared GPS tracks.
• Visit the MountainViews Facebook page.
• Visit the Challenge Walks Ireland page (jointly managed by MountainViews)

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