route suggestions and loop walks

Abbey Hill is a nice short climb which rewards you with splendid views over the Burren and Galway Bay. It is also a rather popular walk and on a sunny Sunday afternoon you won’t be alone on this summit. I often take visitors from abroad up here as it is a great quick introduction to the Burren limestone landscape. The three most obvious routes are:

1. From the east. Leave the car at AbyHl (M31212 10187) and follow the green road west until a gap in the wall at B (M31107 10468). From here straight up west to the summit.

2. From the north. Either same parking as route 1, or west at St. Patricks church C (M28630 10124). Follow the green road up until a gap in the wall at D (M30005 10878). From here follow a trail up west until you bump into the wall that will guide you all the way to the summit; first south then southeast. This route offers some easy scrambling up several small limestone cliffs.

3. From the south. Park at Corcomroe Abbey E (M29440 08935). The 13th century abbey ruins are worth the short visit. Over the wall or through the gate into the field west of the abbey. Straight up north until you meet the wall that guides you up NE all the way to the summit. This route also negotiates a few easy cliffs.

Route 1 and 2 combined give you a nice loop over Abbey Hill. For a longer loop consider taking in the nearby peaks of Oughtmama and Turlough Hill. I describe a route Bell Harbour – Turlough Hill – Oughtmama – Abbey Hill – Bell Harbour on Wikiloc (http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/user.do?name=fkaatje).

As a side note: My personal opinion is that Turlough Hill offers a much better challenge than any of the West Clare summits listed on MountainViews. It’s a real pity it misses the 150m prominence criterium (the saddle connecting it to Slievecarran is just 100m lower than the summit). The same applies to other Burren peaks like Moneen and Gleninagh Mountains. Apart from offering a better challenge than the listed mountains, they are striking landmarks in the Burren; clearly distinguishable from the Salthill prom 20 km across Galway Bay. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1009/comment/6669/

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Karst landscape at its finest

The Burren is a 300 sq km region of Co. Clare which is famous for its karst landscape. This manifests itself as magnificent endless exposed limestone plateaus, rocky hills and dramatic natural clean-cut steps and stairs and blocks of rock. Beneath lie breathtaking cave systems that are still being explored. While walking on the plateaus one encounters these ‘blocks’ of rock which are called ‘clints’. The cracks or fissures between them are called ‘grikes’. These require care as the rock of the ‘clints’ can be fractured and displace, and an unplanned step into a ‘grike’ could result in a leg or foot injury.
Abbey Hill shows these clints and grikes at their finest and they allow for an entertaining ascent from the start. In places trees and tangled bushes grow out of the fissures whcih makes the descent in particular to the north very interesting in plaes! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1009/comment/17556/

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Wood Tiger Moth

One of the joys of scaling Abbey Hill is the abundance of flora & fauna on it's slopes.
Climbing It for the 3rd time with my brother & his daughters with their young & keen eyes uncovered an unusual looking moth hiding from the brief rain showers that befell us.
Turns out to be a Wood Tiger.
Keep your eyes open when walking. You'll never know what might be spotted. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1009/comment/23520/

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A snowy April morning.

An easy walk close to Kinvarra. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1009/comment/18488/

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Easy hike with the added bonus of some great scenery

A nice climb that is definitely not too taxing but at the same time offering up some great scenery of the Burren. Most of the hike is over the traditional Karst limestone that this an intrinsic part of the north Clare region. Some great elevated and unique views of Corcomroe Abbey at the rear of the hill Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1009/comment/18615/

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