wicklore on Cupidstown Hill

According to local legend (as told to Paul Clements in ‘The Height of Nonsense’) Cupidstown Hill got its name from Oliver Cromwell’s gun, which he had apparently named ‘Cupid’. The connection between Cromwell and this part of Kildare is that Cromwell is said to have had a command post on the hill while his army sacked the surrounding land. Hence the name Cupidstown Hill. This might not be as ridiculous as it seems when we consider that Cromwellstown is the next townland to Cupidstown, and there is a Cromwellstownhill there also.

Cromwellian-like destruction was in evidence when I climbed this hill over a year ago. I used a minor road that crosses the hill to get to a track that leads to the summit. This minor road was extremely rutted and damaged, and combined with a steep incline it was quite a challenge to drive up. At approx Lamb Hl (O005 202) there is a gate and a wide grassy track leading NE through the trees. At the gate and surrounding roadside there was a lot of dumped debris. The grassy track leads in a few minutes to the top of Cupidstown Hill at A (O006 206). Along the way I encountered a burnt out car and the odd assortment of junk that tends to accumulate in such fly-tipping hot spots.

The forestry runs up to the summit where it meets fields of grass that roll up from the west. There is a telecommunications mast at the edge of the trees, and the summit trig pillar is just over a fence in the adjoining field. There are fine views across the plains of Kildare and Dublin to the north and west. Saggart Hill, which is a part of the same ridge of upland, is clearly visible a short distance away to the NE.

Cupidstown Hill is a bit of a paradox. It clearly suffers from being so close to Dublin, yet once out on the summit field it is a nice rural feeling with great views. Its cute name implies innocence, yet it has seen terrible things – both historically and, more recently, the dumping and antisocial behaviour. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1051/comment/3971/

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Enhance this with a visit to Oughterard

Yes, perhaps this is not a very noteworthy hill. Cupidstown and Saggart Hill represent largely forest topped outliers of the Dublin/Wicklow range split from higher summits to the East by the N81. To the north west lies the village of Kilteel and beyond that the N7.

Apart from the fact that it is the County High Point of KIldare, you might be forgiven for ignoring this hill. Indeed, if you have ventured this way solely to bag the CHP, you may feel let down.

However, might I suggest that if you have accessed Cupidstown Hill from the N7 and are returning that way, you can easily improve your visit to the area with a short detour via car to the north.

On your return to the N7 junction 6, I suggest you take a short detour over the northside of the junction, beyond Castlewarden to Oughterard, the "High Place" south of the hamlet of Ardclough (which is situated on the grand canal), west of Lyons Hill. After passing the Castlewarden Golf Club, the road swings to the right and heads northward, before gaining ground and making another sharp right bend (you do not need to take any turns). Parking at B (N95802 26073), on the roadside opposite some houses after this sharp right bend, you will be rewarded with a nice view towards Saggart Hill and Cupidstown Hill (from whence you came) to the South. Behind you, between the houses, you will see the Black Gates and signs for Oughterard Cemetery, and the signpost of the waymarked trail "Arthur's Way".

Pass through the stile at the side of the gates and wander up the gravel path just 100 metres to the brow of the "hill". On your left you will find a walled graveyard, which contains the ruins of a church and a very fine round tower. The Round Tower is a national monument. The Church contains the tomb of Arthur Guinness, famously of St James Gate, Dublin, but born and laid to rest in this area of County Kildare. The Church is steeped in history with links back to the time of St Briga and St Brigid of Kildare. An information post explains all.

Respecting the solemnity of your surroundings and the grass covered graves, carefully climb the stone spiral staircase accessed from within the church and venture out onto its open rooftop to better enjoy the view to the plains to the North.

I promise you will probably find this quite interesting compared to your summit bagging adventures on Cupidstown Hill. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1051/comment/18724/

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Being watched!

We (family of 2 adults with 2 small children) visited this spot 2 weeks ago. As the earlier commentators have said, all the climbing was done by
the car. We approached by the N81 through Tallaght (coming from the M50) and
turned right after Brittas, opposite the road that's signposted "Kilbride".
After less than a mile driving up a twisty road, you will see a gateway on
the right with a black-and-yellow bar on top. This is the place to park (we
discovered eventually, after passing it, going to Kilteel and making a few
wrong turns).

Some of the rubbish seems to have been cleared away since the last
contributors visited. Perhaps the contibutions and cctv camera mentioned have
improved the surveilance here. Before we started up the beautiful grassy
woodland path, however, we were aware of a "surveilance" of another kind: a
big stag was staring down the path at us!

An easy 5 minute stroll later we were at the telecoms mast and walked around
it to the trig pillar. It's a super view over a large area for minimum
walking effort. Thank you to paulocon, wicklore, and others for valuable
contributions. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1051/comment/6128/

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Cupids arrow must be blunt!

Climbed Cupidstown hill from access road on Lambs Hill Lamb Hl (O005 202).A couple of mins through a wide pathway leads to the summit and that is about the height of it!!
Nice views to the North and a Big trig pillar hidden behind the mast building are what you will find.Thankfully the walk back to the car doesnt take too long! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1051/comment/6109/

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paulocon on Cupidstown Hill

Visited Cupidstown hill as part of a County Tops task. The hill lies close to perhaps Ireland's sleepiest Village, Kilteel. The road up to the hill is in a bad state of disrepair but it's condition is nothing in comparison to the entrance to the short avenue that lies to Kildare's highest point. It's fair to say that the location will never be on the Kildare Tourism Board's website. The area around and inside of the gate was doing a fine job of passing as a dump - the most notable discarded item being a large body-sized bag which I was relieved to hear jangle when I kicked it!
From the gate, it's just a 5 minute walk to the summit - a veritable 'plain jane' in comparison to some of the other County Tops.
Everything about the highest point of Kildare was underwhelming - the communications mast was small, the adjoining building more like the caravan off father ted, it's hum barely audible and finally the trig pillar sat folornly on the edge of a mucky ditch across a bedraggled and torn fence.
That said, Cupidstown Hill is the highest point in Kildare so for anyone who wakes up one morning and decides that their life won't be complete until they visit all the County High Points, it is somewhere that has to be visited and somewhere that has a pretty unique character all of it's own. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1051/comment/3975/

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