Caoinkeen is not far from the Kilgarvan-Bantry road but has a very remote feel to it. The summit offers fine views in all directions, locally to the Caha and Shehy mountains and further afield to south Kerry. The views down to the corrie lake on the nothern flanks are pretty decent too. Be careful of the steep ground to the north of the summit in poor weather.

NE. Park near W02239 65755 A and take the track to the SW. When you reach the lake head NW steeply to approx. W01132 65614 B and then head up a vague valley to the col at W00399 65324 C. From here head directly for the summit but it might be worth keeping left as you do so as to gain fine views of Lough Akinkeen and its cliffs. Allow 1hr.

E. Park at approx. W03929 64876 D and head up the E spur of Caoinkeen. The going is steep for about 1 km but then eases as you approach the first of three lakes before getting slightly steeper for the final pull up to the summit. Allow 45 min+

S. Caoinkeen can also be reached via Knockboy. The ridge between the two hills is a little over 3 km and the going is relatively easy and pleasant.

NW. There is also an easy ridge walk over from Knocknamanagh. This is approx. 2.5km.

Notable tracks include track/3037 and for those who enjoy a longer hike track/3100. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/120/comment/4880/

Caoinkeen is certainly off the beaten track and getting to the starting point requires a long drive on twisty and narrow minor roads either from Kilgarvan to the north or from Ballylickey or Kealkill to the south. The NE facing corrie below the summit has an almost impenetrable headwall of near vertical cliffs up to 350m in height. At the far right (northern end) of the cliffs there are two vertical gullies and the leftmost one of these presents a hard scambling route to the top which is described in Lynch's guide to 'Munster's Mountains'. A small stream follows the line of the gully and it is wet, vegetated and slimy to varying degrees.

The first part of the route is an easy scramble in the stream bed with short harder diversions on the grass to the left to avoid obstacles. About a third of the way up the gully there is a vertical 4m wall. Lynch describes avoiding this by climbing the gully side wall on the right. But this was mossy, slippery and offered no protection for the leader, so we retraced our steps for about 20m-30m and scrambled up steep grass on the right (when facing up the gully). This bypassed the vertical sections. The rest of the gully was a moderate grade scramble except for a slimy boulder about three quarters of the way up. This required a helping hand for the leader and a taught rope for the second. Near to the top the gully branches and we took the easier right branch to reach the plateau about 250m away from the summit.

This was perhaps not the cleanest scramble that we have done and at times was more akin to Ghyll scambling (a popular sport in the Lake District). Nevertheless, it provides a satisifying route to the summit. It took about a hour to reach the gully from the car and about 1.5 hours to climb the gully. Our continuation on to Knockboy and the descent is described separately by kernowclimber under Knockboy. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/120/comment/5986/

Caoinkeen was our first stop on a 5-top (2 car) trek that took in Caoinkeen - Knocknamanagh-Knocknamanagh NE - Gullaba Hil l- Bird Hill. There is just room to pull over to the side of the road beside a short track at 027 685 E (our finishing point). We then drove south along the narrow road and parked at point 023 657 F, and began our walk up a track (that leads up to Lough Akinkeen) for a few hundred metres before turning south and heading up the steepish incline that runs to the east of Caoinkeen. The route offered great views of the valley and the steep cliff that encloses the lough on three sides (see pic). Caoinkeen itself is a broad, rocky top marked by a cairn. About an hour and a quarter to the top.
We then proceeded NW to Knocknamanagh, NE to Knocknamanagh NE Top and Gullaba Hill and then swung sharply east towards Bird Hill, reaching our end point in approx five and a half hours. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/120/comment/4703/

There is perhaps some confusion about the name of the summit of Ahinkeen. The OS 1:50k map calls it Knockboy (which is exactly the same as the name they give to the higher mountain about 2k south). The OS also has a label of Caoinkeen near the cliff edge. There is also some doubt as to the top. There is a small cairn on a prominent mound of rock beside the cliff edge also, which some seem to take as the summit. Our photo shows a cairn some 100-200 m south of the cliff. In the background can be seen the larger Knockboy and to its right, Knockboy North Top (not very obvious in the heat haze). The ridge between Ahinkeen and Knockboy is broad and boggy and could be tricky in mist, though it does not have any of the significant slabs that can make walking hard in the Cahas. There is a small lake, Lough Nambrackdarrig, to act as a waypoint. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/120/comment/444/