SLIEVE BEAGH SE TOP FROM CARRICKNABROCK

(19/09/12) Commenced walk to Slieve Beagh SE Top from pull-in point/lay-by at grid ref. D (H562 432) along minor road on Carricknabrock. Walked SSW for short distance on this road to where it meets Sliabh Beagh Way (SBW) at E (H561 428) and then following SWB I proceeded NW on gravel trackway as far as F (H558 432) where SBW turns SW direction leaving gravel track and onto bog track (note if following SBW markers the marker is obscured at this turn-off). SBW then enters area of open bogland and crosses metal bridge at G (H553 429). Due to distance between waymarkers and indistinct terrain and track care needed in poor visibility and I found the going quite soft in places. SBW appears to deviate further north from Lough Aportan than shown on map print-out that I was using and joins track that descends to T-junction at H (H545 424). Turning right at T-junction I left the SBW to follow westward bound track that contoured around side of hill to where it stopped at I (H540 425) and then proceeded NW across open mountain to find the county top.

I agree with Harry Goodman's comment that navigational accuracy is needed here especiallly in poor visibility. The day I walked here visibility was fine but I noticed hardly any significant features to assist navigation apart from the Mullaghfad Forest in distance to my left on my ascent. I approached this section of the walk by initally walking on compass bearing towards the top before referring to my GPS to hone in on grid ref for the top as per MV. However, as distance from end of last track above to top is 1.3km walking on compass bearing over this distance is not easy with virtually no distinguishing features to take bearing towards along the way. I reached county top as shown on photos by dr_banuska and Harry Goodman. It is indeed an undistinguished county top as noted by the latter contributor though another county top ticked off the list!

I returned by the same route as above that I had followed to the Sliabh Beagh SE top. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1053/comment/14821/

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What a lovely walk, it's being under sold

Walked to this summit today. So much nicer than I expected. I was only going to tick it off my county tops list. Followed the route as suggested by Simon3 and Harry Goodman. A few updates: there is a sign pointing up the side road for the three county hollow, along with a few waymarked walks, walkers are definitely welcome; there is a sign at the gate requesting that from April 1st to August 1st you do not walk across the heather due to ground nesting birds, which means no trip to the "summit" during these months.
It was a great day to be there, Heather in bloom, lots of fraughns for snacking on, saw a snipe, got to lie by the lake for a rest, not nearly as boggy as expected given the rain we've had, but very bouncy like being on giant bouncy castle. If your looking for big skies and solitude you couldn't find a better spot. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1053/comment/18608/

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Confusion over Summit Coordinates, & Beast on Beagh?

There is definitely something odd going on with the given coordinates for Slieve Beagh SE Top. Having read three5four0’s piece on the apparent error with interest, I found myself up there this week in the pursuit of another County Top. I also followed Harry Goodman’s clear route. The coordinates I captured at the highest point of Monaghan were J (H53185 43600). I reckon this is about 100 metres south of the given MV coordinates. However having been up there I feel confident in saying that my recorded gps coordinates are fairly accurate. I feel the MV coordinates would have you teetering on the edge of Lough Sallagh, if not actually in it! Lough Sallagh is definitely lower than the mound which I considered to be the summit.

Why is accuracy important? What is 100 metres here or there? Well, as other contributors have pointed out, Slieve Beagh SE Top (and Slieve Beagh in general) is a remote, featureless, bleak expanse of undulating bog. It is beautiful in its stark nature. But it could be fierce and unforgiving to those who go there in poor visibility and who cannot navigate. 100 metres could be the difference between a successful County Top bagged or the start of an unexpected adventure lost in the wilds of Fermanagh, Tyrone and Monaghan!

Be warned - this whole bog is wet, wet, wet! Every footstep sinks into the ground beneath the heather and grass. It must be supersaturated, and it means the effort required to trudge over the heavy ground is more than might be expected. Speaking of footsteps – I came across very large animal prints in the snow on the track leading past Lough Antraicer. They looked like giant cat prints. I took a photo with my own footprint next to them for size comparison. My wife assures me they are dog prints, and now thinks I have walked alone in the hills for long enough. But there were no other human or animal prints with the footprints. Would a lone dog be likely to walk up here by itself? Maybe I have walked alone long enough!!

Note: one week after this post an animal expert confirmed that these prints are in fact from a dog, possibly a Labrador. Big dog! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1053/comment/4599/

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An undistinguished County Top

On a walk to Slieve Beagh (Doocarn) in July 2006 I walked out over spot height 365m shown as Eshbrack on the OSI Map Sheet 28A. I assumed this was also Slieve Beagh SE top and thought I had walked over the highest point in Monaghan. It was only after I was back home that I realised that Slieve Beagh South East Top (Eshbrack), as shown by the MV reference, was not this spot height but a small hummock some 800 metres further to the NE!! As I was doing the County Tops at the time I re-visited the area about a month later and walked out to Slieve Beagh SE Top the highest point in Monaghan. I started at a gate across a minor road at B (H554 415) and followed a track up through Barratitoppy Upper to fork then bear left. At the end of the track I went NW over spot height 365m Eshbrack and then continued over the bleak moorland to a peaty hummock which is the highest point in Co. Monaghan, overlooking little Lough Sallagh. I returned by the outward route. The moral in this tale, always check your references and do not commit to memory!!! Since first writing this comment the accuracy of the MV grid reference for this top has been questioned by wicklore and three5four0. In particular it has been pointed out that using OSNI Sheet 18 leaves the mv grid ref below the 370m contour. This certainly is the case reading Sheet but if the reference is traced on OSI Sheet 28A there is a distinct ring contour for 370m which extends further N than that on OSNI Sheet 18. Using Sheet 28A may allow the listed mv grid ref to fall just on the N tip of the contour and, I assume, allowing for a margin of error, indicate they could lie within same. As to the question of accuracy of the mv grid ref hopefully this can be checked with a GPS(s) and amended if necessary. Certainly as pointed out by wicklore an accurate reference would be necessary to find this remote and undistinguished high point in poor weather. This said, in clear conditions, the peaty hummock marking the high point is quite distinct and even the most fastidious walker would not have to tramp around too much to have satisfied her/himself that the top had been covered. Having read the 06/2010 Newsletter I am pleased to note that an accurate GPS reading, differing somewhat from the original reference, has now been posted on the site and should serve those going in search of Monaghan's highest point very well indeed, whichever map is used. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1053/comment/4003/

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Slieve Beagh & S E Top

I enjoyed my walk up Slieve Beagh taking in the South East Top.

As with many of my county top walks so far, I had the mountain to myself on this showery midweek day in April.

I followed Harry Goodman's references and was quite proud of my newly learned navigation skills as I discoverd to my relief that Lough Sallagh does in fact lie just over that rump on the horizon. It really only comes into view at the last moment.

I found on the outward journey, that as the ground levels out after you have ascended for a few minutes at the end of the trail, there is a lone pine tree just to the right of the 365 spot height that serves as a good midpoint before carrying on to the SE Top which is by then visible.

The going certainly is boggy, and the surroundings and sky feel quite vast as you cross the flat expanse towards the top and Lough Sallagh. Having said that, I was accompanied by the noisy chatter of countless birds who I could hear but not see. This in stark contrast to the relative silence of the lower reaches of the hill which look and smell of an extensive recent burning. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1053/comment/4674/

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