Shapely summit welcomes bootless buffoon

This is a view of the rather shapely upper slopes of Birreencorragh as viewed from the col to the south west. In particular, the photo was taken from near spot height 587 meters. From this point it is a 111 meters haul up to the summit over a distance of circa 400 metres. The slope is a mixture of scree and patches of grass at first, and gets quite steep and rocky for the last 50 metres ascent. ......

On the day that I climbed Birreencorragh in mid-August I started hiking at 6:30am. Bleary-eyed I opened the boot of the car to pull out my rucksack, hiking poles and…and discovered that my hiking boots were not there. I glanced at my runners and gazed forlornly up at the lung-bursting, steep wet slope that marks the start of the initial route up to Birreencorragh South Top when setting out from B (G03490 02390). I never complete hikes in runners, and ALWAYS depend on my trusty boots for keeping my feet and ankles dry & unbroken. I made a bargain with myself that I would walk slowly and the first time I slipped on wet grass or heather, or my feet twisted in any risky direction that I would stop and go back. I have a keen interest in not becoming a mountain rescue statistic.

As it transpired I had a lovely hike, catching the sunrise over Nephin, enjoying clear early morning views across the Mayo landscape, and even managed to keep my feet relatively dry. I was much more alert when negotiating the upper scree slope on Birreencorragh, and extra vigilant not to step in boggy patches. All-in-all I made great time visiting the three Birreencorragh summits, and the most challenging part was not slipping onto my backside on the descent to the car on that first/last wet grassy slope. As for forgetting my boots – some things only have to happen once and then they won’t happen again. I now add ‘bring boots’ to my mental list when preparing for a hike, next to ‘remember to breathe’ and ‘put one foot in front of the other in order to move’. One swallow doesn’t make a summer, and time will tell if it was a sign of age or just the super-early rising-time that caused me to forget my boots. All I can do in the meantime is give a rueful chuckle and shake my head as I put my car keys in my boots or hang the boots off the front door handle the night before a hike. If necessary I’ll even start wearing them to bed! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/112/comment/20651/

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Approach from the south

My approach to Birreencorragh was from the col with Glenlara to the S. This gives a great appreciation of the very steep E slopes, partially covered in scree, dropping down into Glendorragha. As you climb, the distinctive form of Clare Island becomes perfectly framed between the hills of Buckoogh and Bengorm. The NW ridge drops down off the main ridge and it is well worth the short detour for another view of this many-faced mountain. As you near the summit the ground becomes scree-covered which gets larger for the last section. At the top there are the remains of a trig pillar and a shelter cairn where i had a bite to eat out of the wind. There is an even more expansive view from here as to that described from Glenlara - can now see Croughaun and Menawn on Achill to add to Slievemore, the Sligo mtns are also now visible beyond Nephin along with the Bluestacks in Donegal and more of the hills to the SW in Connemara. With the clarity of visibility I could see the beginnings of hills to the SE - Wicklow? Drop down N along the broad ridge, the ground levels and becomes very stoney as you pass three small cairns. When reach the fourth cairn, topped by a white rock, can either continue along the N ridge or turn to the NE and drop down, again a broad and stony ridge as you head straight for the bulk of Nephin. Pass 2 more marker cairns, at the second head E and drop down gently at first but then more steeply to the col with Knockaffertagh. Birreencorragh is a fantastic mountain and the horseshoe walk lets you glimpse all of its facets - it is quite different from the various compass points. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/112/comment/1965/

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CaptainVertigo on Birreencorragh

I relived the opening scene from The English Patient, flying low and steady over the desert south of Birreencorragh.Sadly the transport wasn't a Tiger Moth, nor was my headpiece particularly Fiennes. The drone was merely the computer's fan, and the windscreen was framing Google Earth software. Still I was drawn back to that morning in June when I stole out at first light and drove on empty roads to the southern base, ascended a wet grassy step, galloped along the spine of the beast that slept at her feet, and then , gloriously, was assumed body and soul onto the heavenly peak. I saw Nephin peeping sheepishly from behind Knockaffertagh, and Lough Conn shimmered and seemed suspended high in the air. To the south west lay Clew bay and the thousand frozen whales stopped momentarily on a seaward trajectory. Alone , without Map, compass, GPS, whistle,food or oxygen; alone on the awesome south face of Birreencorragh :"this most excellent canopy, the
air, look you, this brave o'erhanging firmament, this majestical
roof fretted with golden fire". Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/112/comment/1850/

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csd on Birreencorragh

The approach to the summit from the western slopes is fairly steep and rocky; we tackled it as part of a Glenlara - Birreencorragh - Knockaffertagh horseshoe. The summit area itself is rocky and consists of a windbreak fashioned from these rocks and what looks like a demolished trig pillar in the middle of a large stone cairn. Unfortunately the summit was fog-bound when we reached it, so this picture is from the SW near Glenlara. If planning to do this horseshoe, be extra careful in the fog. There are two spurs north of the summit, and you need to take the right-hand one. We misjudged and ended up with an hour's detour to get back on course! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/112/comment/1254/

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Gateway to the Nephin Begs

Birreencorragh is probably one of the more accessible of the higher Nephin Begs in my limited knowledge and experience; having walked only a couple of the others so far. My visit coincided with glorious weather in early September 2023, and I used Simms and Whilde's "Walk Guide - West of Ireland" as my reference for access and parking, which proved to be very reliable. So I approached from the NE , turning off the Castlebar-Bangor road R312 at an unsignposted crossroads at F (G042 118) and then left immediately after crossing the Deel River towards the townland of Glendavoolagh, which is also marked on a stone at the turnoff. Follow this narrow road as it progresses into the narrowing valley, Park at G (G022 096) . Dropping down to the river, I found the crossing fairly straightforward after a few days of dry weather. There is then a short and reasonably steep pull up through heather until the gradient eases off fairly quickly. Thereafter the ascent is over decent, firm ground, as one makes progress up the gentle N-S spur to reach the natural break point with a cairn and the remnants of the fenceline at H (G021 071) which disappears for the rest of the climb. The summit was clearly visible from here in the conditions I had, but I think there were a couple of small waymarking cairns as far as I recall, for more inclement conditions. The view on the ascent opens up the whole of the northern section of the Nephin Begs, with Slieve Carr and Nephin Beg prominent in view, and Lough Feeagh and the undulating ridge walk from Ben Gorm to Corranabinnia off to the west. I completed the circuit to return via the West Top (551 mtrs) I (G014 049) and down the S-N ridge towards the Deel River (incidentally, the main salmon spawning stream for the mighty River Moy- most productive salmon river in Europe) and the farmstead over good firm ground. I should mention that after crossing the river and approaching the farm, I saw a notice on the gate which is clearly to deter unauthorised entry and with safety disclaimers etc. Fair enough. After some scanning around, I found that there was a stile in the fence running up the W side of the hill on the E side of the farm. Crossing the stile, there was an open gate across a small field, and then it was just a case of walking across to the river where it met the public track and crossing a wooden gate cum stile after negotiating the river. It is then just a walk down the public road to the start point. In summary, I would call this route a thoroughly enjoyable introduction to the Nephin Begs with no great access problems, and not too long an undertaking of 5-6 hours at a comfortable pace, but with still a sense of the vast openness of this beautiful mountain range. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/112/comment/24042/

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