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Feature count in area: 12, all in Mayo,
OSI/LPS Maps: 37, EW-CON, MSW
Highest Place: Mweelrea 814m
Starting Places (34) in area Mweelrea:
Aasleagh Waterfall CP, Ben Creggan N, Bundorragha Estuary Cross, Bunleemshough River Source, Carraig Bar, Delphi Resort, Dernasliggaun, Doo Lough N, Doo Lough SE, Fee Lough SW, Foher, Glencraff Road End, Glencullin Lough CP, Glendavock, Glenummera River, Illaunroe North, Illaunroe South, Killary Boat Tour Pier W, Leenane, Leenane Hotel, unuseableLeenane R336, Lough Fee East, Muck Lough NW, N59 Junction, Nambrackkeagh Lough, Owen Lackagh, Owenduff River, Owengar Bridge, Owenwee River, Sean Scoil an Talaimh Bháin, Silver Strand Car Park, Silver Strand Road, Tawnydoogan Forest Central, Tawnydoogan Forest North
Summits & other features in area Mweelrea:
E: Ben Gorm Mountains: Ben Creggan 693m, Ben Creggan South Top 687m, Ben Gorm 700m
W: Mweelrea: Ben Bury 795m, Ben Lugmore 803m, Ben Lugmore East Top 790m, Ben Lugmore West Top 790m, Corrymailley Hill 286m, Mweelrea 814m, Mweelrea SE Spur 495m, Tawnydoogan 312m, Teevnabinnia 379m
Note: this list of places may include island features such as summits, but not islands as such.
Highest Place: Mweelrea 814m
Starting Places (34) in area Mweelrea:
Aasleagh Waterfall CP, Ben Creggan N, Bundorragha Estuary Cross, Bunleemshough River Source, Carraig Bar, Delphi Resort, Dernasliggaun, Doo Lough N, Doo Lough SE, Fee Lough SW, Foher, Glencraff Road End, Glencullin Lough CP, Glendavock, Glenummera River, Illaunroe North, Illaunroe South, Killary Boat Tour Pier W, Leenane, Leenane Hotel, unuseableLeenane R336, Lough Fee East, Muck Lough NW, N59 Junction, Nambrackkeagh Lough, Owen Lackagh, Owenduff River, Owengar Bridge, Owenwee River, Sean Scoil an Talaimh Bháin, Silver Strand Car Park, Silver Strand Road, Tawnydoogan Forest Central, Tawnydoogan Forest NorthSummits & other features in area Mweelrea:
E: Ben Gorm Mountains: Ben Creggan 693m, Ben Creggan South Top 687m, Ben Gorm 700m
W: Mweelrea: Ben Bury 795m, Ben Lugmore 803m, Ben Lugmore East Top 790m, Ben Lugmore West Top 790m, Corrymailley Hill 286m, Mweelrea 814m, Mweelrea SE Spur 495m, Tawnydoogan 312m, Teevnabinnia 379m
Note: this list of places may include island features such as summits, but not islands as such.
Place Rating ..
Grid Reference L85832 66134, OS 1:50k mapsheet 37
Place visited by: 235 members, recently by: orlaithfitz, JohnHoare, jackos, Aidan_Ennis, discovering_dann, DarrenY, RosieMc, farmerjoe1, DeirdreM, rhw, taramatthews, srr45, PiotrR, Carolineswalsh, SeanPurcell
I visited this place: NO
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Bedrock type: Sandstone & conglomerate, ignimbrite, (Mweelrea Formation)
Notes on name: This peak is unnamed on OS maps, but is called Maul Laur on Bald's map of Co. Mayo (1830). This is probably an anglicisation of Ir. Meall Láir, 'middle lump', indicating its position half-way beween Ben Creggan and Ben Gorm.
Short or GPS IDs, 6 char: BnC687, 10 char: BnCrgnSthT
Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/128/
Gallery for Ben Creggan South Top (Meall Láir) and surrounds
Summary
for Ben Creggan South Top (Meall Láir):
Stunning panoramas from amid wild rough ridge
Summary created by simon3, Colin Murphy
27 Apr, 2014
Gl'Vck (L888 673) in the entrance to a Coillte forest. Cross the road and begin to ascend the long ridge on the eastern side of Ben Creggan. This is a fairly gently rising slope about 3km long, with the going underfoot fairly solid, mostly rocky. After approx 1.5 km, at A (L875 668) you have the option of continuing west to the top of Ben Creggan and then making the short hop south to the South Top, or alternatively turning south west, crossing the valley to B (L866 663) and ascending the ridge directly to the summit of Ben Creggan South Top. This is somewhat steeper than the more northerly ridge but is very firm underfoot. After 1km of climbing directly west, you will reach the South Top, which is marked with a cairn. Views from the summit are quite stunning, with Tawnyard Lough visible 5km to the east and Doo Lough Valley to the north west and Killary Harbour to the South West. From car to summit 1 hour 45 mins.
Add a Place Comment for Ben Creggan South Top, Meall Láir 
Are you slower than a Victorian Mountaineer?
by wicklore
7 Sep 2019
Or perhaps the question should be, are you carrying a camera?
When one peruses these august pages, one could be forgiven for feeling inadequate when learning that Hillwalker A only took an hour to reach this peak, or Hillwalker B completed X walk in 2 hours. And God forbid you should dare to look at the statistics for some of the gps tracks (At over 2500 MV easily has the biggest repository in the country). Seeing that Hillwalker Y or Z walked for 48km non-stop results in a sharp intake of breath or an explosive exhalation (often simultaneously with curious results)
In 1892 William W. Naismith devised a guide that became known as Naismith’s Rule. In metric terms it states one should allow 12 minutes for every km of distance plus 10 minutes for every 100 metres of ascent. For those like me who have found themselves mentally counting the contour lines as you gasp your way up some hellish incline, it means that you add on one minute for each contour line you will cross.
Between Naismith and Hillwalkers X, Y & Z I have come to realise my own pace doesn’t necessarily match up with convention. My speed of putting one foot in front of the other is reasonable enough, however the time taken to get from A to B is longer. This only increases the more dramatic the location of the walk or the more beautiful the scenery.
And so on my recent first-time visit to Ben Creggan I found the curse of Hillwalker Z struck again. The Honourable Gentleman suggested 1 hour 45 minutes to reach the South Top via Ben Creggan from the east. Yet 2 hours later found me still languishing somewhere on the upper reaches of the approach to Ben Creggan. The South Top was like a mirage that retreated with every step I took.
Oh I completed the hike alright, and I even found a new way down by descending from the col between Ben Gorm and Creggan South Top into the Glendavock Valley. However it all just served to remind me that ‘time taken’ is a very individual thing, and that each person should also factor in the myriad of times they will stop for 10 seconds for a photo, gaze at the views or simply catch their breath. For example I spent considerable time studying the fault line mentioned by Simon3 in his post on Ben Creggan. I also took copious photos of the views which easily accounted for an hour of my hike.
I can only add that the hike was amazing, views were outstanding and the feeling of accomplishment was very satisfactory. Similar to the divergence between my hike speed and my contemporaries is the divergence between my comfort on steep ground and theirs. I would describe the final approaches to Ben Creggan as requiring care and concentration in places, and even the route up to the more benign South Top was very steep in places even though it is mostly grass with some patches of scree. Naismith and others might complete such routes much more quickly, but it’s ok to take longer too. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/128/comment/20647/
When one peruses these august pages, one could be forgiven for feeling inadequate when learning that Hillwalker A only took an hour to reach this peak, or Hillwalker B completed X walk in 2 hours. And God forbid you should dare to look at the statistics for some of the gps tracks (At over 2500 MV easily has the biggest repository in the country). Seeing that Hillwalker Y or Z walked for 48km non-stop results in a sharp intake of breath or an explosive exhalation (often simultaneously with curious results)
In 1892 William W. Naismith devised a guide that became known as Naismith’s Rule. In metric terms it states one should allow 12 minutes for every km of distance plus 10 minutes for every 100 metres of ascent. For those like me who have found themselves mentally counting the contour lines as you gasp your way up some hellish incline, it means that you add on one minute for each contour line you will cross.
Between Naismith and Hillwalkers X, Y & Z I have come to realise my own pace doesn’t necessarily match up with convention. My speed of putting one foot in front of the other is reasonable enough, however the time taken to get from A to B is longer. This only increases the more dramatic the location of the walk or the more beautiful the scenery.
And so on my recent first-time visit to Ben Creggan I found the curse of Hillwalker Z struck again. The Honourable Gentleman suggested 1 hour 45 minutes to reach the South Top via Ben Creggan from the east. Yet 2 hours later found me still languishing somewhere on the upper reaches of the approach to Ben Creggan. The South Top was like a mirage that retreated with every step I took.
Oh I completed the hike alright, and I even found a new way down by descending from the col between Ben Gorm and Creggan South Top into the Glendavock Valley. However it all just served to remind me that ‘time taken’ is a very individual thing, and that each person should also factor in the myriad of times they will stop for 10 seconds for a photo, gaze at the views or simply catch their breath. For example I spent considerable time studying the fault line mentioned by Simon3 in his post on Ben Creggan. I also took copious photos of the views which easily accounted for an hour of my hike.
I can only add that the hike was amazing, views were outstanding and the feeling of accomplishment was very satisfactory. Similar to the divergence between my hike speed and my contemporaries is the divergence between my comfort on steep ground and theirs. I would describe the final approaches to Ben Creggan as requiring care and concentration in places, and even the route up to the more benign South Top was very steep in places even though it is mostly grass with some patches of scree. Naismith and others might complete such routes much more quickly, but it’s ok to take longer too. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/128/comment/20647/
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simon3 on Ben Creggan South Top
by simon3
8 Feb 2004
This visualisation of the landscape shows the Ben Gorm group from the NE at 3000m. If you are walking around the group anti-clockwise starting from north (right) of Glendavock, you will pass each of the summit eventually reaching Ben Gorm. This is a place where you can go wrong in mist. Around the point marked A there is a flattish area with three ridges leading off. Be aware that there are big cliffs around and obviously you need to get the correct ridge. Often this will be the longish ridge heading NE, which is shown reaching right down to the bottom of the picture. You can judge just how bumpy this is from shadow it casts. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/128/comment/838/
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simon3 on Ben Creggan South Top
by simon3
5 May 2003
The last reddish rays of the sun caught the “Ben Gorm Mountains” in this picture, taken around May one year from the other side of Killary Fjord. Ben Creggan South Top is the golden top in the middle of the three peaks. Ben Creggan is the further peak, on the left, with Ben Gorm on the right. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/128/comment/476/
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Brendan777 on Ben Creggan South Top
by Brendan777
17 Sep 2009
Here is a photo I took from near Ben Creggan South Top looking towards Doo Lough with Clare Island and Achill visible in the background. The easternmost side of the Mweelrea range and the western side of Barrclashcame can also be seen. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/128/comment/4110/
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Breathtaking in all directions
by Colin Murphy
3 Jun 2013
Pic shows Doo Lough Valley as seen from near the summit of South Top Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/128/comment/14995/
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