Mullaghanish, Mullach an Ois 649m mountain, Derrynasaggart SE: Mullaghanish Ireland at MountainViews.ie

Longitude: -9.143401, Latitude: 51.982992 , Easting: 121471, Northing: 81774 Prominence: 264m, Isolation: 1.5km, Has trig pillar
ITM: 521459 581833, GPS IDs, 6 char: Mlghns, 10 char: Mlghnsh
Bedrock type: Green-grey sandstone & purple siltstone, (Gun Point Formation)

This peak is on the county boundary between Cork and Kerry and on the northern edge of the Cúil Aodha Gaeltacht. Ir. os is a literary word for deer. The name Oisín means 'little deer', 'fawn', as Oisín's mother Sadhbh (Sive) came to Fionn in the form of a doe. There is another Mullach an Ois (anglicised Mullaghanuish) in the Mullaghareirk Mountains. Mullach an Ois is the 203rd highest place in Ireland.
Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/199/

MountainViews.ie Picture about mountain Mullaghanish (<i>Mullach an Ois</i>) in area Derrynasaggart, Ireland

Picture: Big TV tower on flattish ridge.

Mast crowns bland ridge summit.

Short Summary created by markmjcampion, simon3, Colin Murphy, jackill 7 Mar 2021

Mullaghanish is a boggy, wet, flat topped hill on the Cork/Kerry border. Its summit is home to a huge TV mast and associated infrastructure. While it may be a nondescript summit, it is a fine vantage point with views across to The Paps, Caherbarnagh and Crohane.

S. For an easy walk it is possible to park at W20455 79903 star

A, and climb via the RTE access road. This should take about 45 mins and involves nearly 400m ascent.

SE. Park at a forest access area W22369 80417 star

B, room for 10 cars. Cross the road and head north with the forest to your right and a fence to your left along a grassy boggy track. Take this up to Carrigrathduff, then head straight for the peak over more heathery terrain. You will need to hop a fence or two. Heading for Mullaghanish, you'll run into a tall barbed wire fence. To avoid it, follow the fence NE for a couple of minutes, and a gate appears. You can go through here and get to the peak. The best way back down is to retrace your steps. Allow 1hr+ to the summit.

Track/3788 is noteworthy and includes two satellite tops to the NE. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/199/comment/4959/

Picture: A roof would only spoil the country!

New Comment: Save it for sunset

by Leatra 15 Apr 2025

Mullaghanish by way of the mast's access road is nothing special, but the views westward are fantastic, as we found on an April weekday evening. With a strong northeasterly slapping us every time the tarmac wound back that way, we found multiple reasons to turn to face Kerry, where hazy silhouettes of distant summits opened up as we ascended: the Cahas and Shehys, the Dunkerrons and Reeks, Mangerton and Purple Mountain and, to the right of a tasteful perspective on the Paps, the distant Slieve Mish. Couldn't have timed it better if we'd tried. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/199/comment/24408/

The most famous summit in the SW?

by Conor74 8 Feb 2012

Right up there anyway, though perhaps only amongst a certain generation. And I say that conscious of Carrauntoohil's height and Brandon's pilgrimage. I think I made this comment to Simon last weekend as we were on its slopes and as it amused him, so it may amuse you to know of its fame. Before I ever picked up a geography book in national school and learned about mountains I was a fan of the tv. Its been a long running affair, if anything it has deepened over the years. Anyway, as a child in the mid to late 70s, we had the grand total of 2 channels on a black and white telly. And we and all of my age lived in the fear of that dreaded message that regularly flashed up on our screens..."we apologise, there is a problem with our transmitter at Mullaghanish...". So when I say most famous summit in the SW, I mean amongst the people of the SW. It was almost like a mantra, everyone knew of this summit, it was pointed out to every wide eyed kid as the family drove over the county bounds between Cork and Kerry, it was a marvel of engineering and technology to us all, almost up there with Kerry Airport and the Dursey Cable Car.

Anyway, some facts lifted from www.irish-tv.com...

Because of the mountainous nature of the area served, it has the highest amount of relays for an Irish transmitter. That site says this is a "dubious honour"...I have to concede I don't actually know what this means!

It transmitted RTE's first attempt at regional television, in the early 1970s, with the programme Munster Matters. This was produced in Dublin and transmitted after RTE shut down at night, when Mullaghanish was the only transmitter that stayed on. The experiment failed, and so RTE stopped regional programming for decades afterwards.

It was one of the 5 original Teilifis Eireann transmitters, opening in 1962. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/199/comment/6675/

Picture: View of Mullaghanish from the start of the route described

Coordinate errors

by SDillmore 4 Apr 2021

An alternate route to the RTE access road: After turning off the N22, follow the small blue signs directing you to Mullaghanish. Drive about 2.5 km past the tower road, and park at a forest access area facing south (W224 804 star

C, it doesn't look like it reaches the road, but it's there). Head north with the forest to your right and a fence to your left. There isn't a trail marked, but it's pretty easy going over slightly mucky grassland. Take this up to Carrigrathduff, then head straight for the peak over more heathery terrain. You will need to hop a fence or two. Heading for Mullaghanish, you'll run into a tall barbed wire fence. To avoid it, follow the fence NE for a couple of minutes, and a gate appears. You can go through here and get to the peak. The best way back down, unfortunately, is to retrace your steps. The aesthetic value of this mountain would be poor even if the transmitter wasn't there, but the views of the Paps and the surrounding valleys are great on a nice day.

The OSI map shows another trail heading north towards the top from the road at W221 807 star

D, but it's very muddy and is clearly a private road. I'd avoid it if possible. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/199/comment/1720/

mart on Mullaghanish, 2005

by mart 6 Jan 2005

You can climb this mountain on the road that leads up to the RTE transmitter on the summit. The mountain is big and round and I don't know of any good reason for taking a different route. The summit route is found from a minor road that runs from Ballyvourney to the Macroom-Millstreet road at about 1400ft so the climb isn't too far. The view should be extensive on a good day. The summit stands on the Cork-Kerry border and looks down to the Blackwater, Clydagh and Lee valleys Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/199/comment/1406/

Picture: A Mexican stand off!

Snow always makes a hike better.

by TommyV 2 Nov 2018

This mountain provides a great opportunity to get to a height of 640 meters for very little effort. The enterance to the access road mentioned by three5four0 is at 260 meters so there is actually less than 400 metres of height to climb and the winding road makes this very easy. Lovely views for such little effort. The snow on top the day I did this added to the walk, as snow always does. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/199/comment/20174/

COMMENTS for Mullaghanish (Mullach an Ois)

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