Homerclesse on Seefin

I have tackled this summit a number of times from a couple of approaches. My favourite is to park at the gates of the Kippure Estate and follow the track across the road. This eventually leads into heavy forest with a lot of deeply rutted tracks and felled trees. The best option is to head to the river bank (Athdown Brook) and climb up along the left side bank of it. A nice view behind you to the Coronation Plantation and the Mullaghcleevaun Range. Once you clear the line of trees on the left then it's simply a matter of heading a little north of west to the summit Seefin. A very interesting Cairn awaits and will be your heading in clear weather. Great views of the Blessington Lakes, the other hills of the West Wicklow range, south to Mullaghcleevaun and east to Kippure and Sugar Loaf.

An alternative route is to park on the west side of Seefin at the gates and go straight up the Forest track.

Seefin can be incorporated into a nice ridge walk to Seefingan and Kippure or to Seechon and Corrig and Back to Seefin. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/241/comment/4545/

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padodes on Seefin

If you like combining a walk in the hills with a stroll through history, then Seefin provides plenty of interest. The easiest approach is from a point south of the entrance to the army rifle range at Kilbride. Starting at A (O068 154) (limited parking), a 250m climb takes you straight up a forest ride (not shown on the OSI map) to the 621m summit and to one of the finest surviving prehistoric sites in Wicklow: the passage tomb at B (O0735 1626).

The huge cairn on top – a full 24m across and 3m high – is already quite impressive, but as you circle around to the north, the exposed entrance, with its massive lintel and posts, gives the first real taste of what lies within. From here, a 7m long passage extends back into the corbelled central chamber, now open to the sky since the capstones were removed. The recent photo I took gives a fisheye view of the (snow-ribbed) top of the cairn, looking into the chamber below. In the chamber itself, accessed either by squeezing through the passage or by letting oneself down through the open top, there are five alcoves, some of which are now partly obstructed by rock-fall. They would probably have held human remains, but when the tomb was excavated in 1931/32, it appears that no vestiges of burial or other artefacts were found. That is hardly surprising, however, when one considers that the tomb has been open for the best part of two millennia. The etching, on one of the roof-stones, of a Greek (equal-armed) cross, thought to be of early Christian origin, would seem to prove that. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/241/comment/3420/

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csd on Seefin

The easiest way to approach Seefin is from the car park at Kippure Bridge. Follow the forest track up, but rather than marching all the way to the top using this track, veer right just before the track dips into a ford and follow the Athdown Brook up (see picture). This is a pleasant detour which will bring you up onto the Seefin - Seefingan track. If you want to come back down via the forest tracks, note that the Harvey map is not 100% accurate - there appears to be at least one extra SW-NE track not marked on the map, north of the two that are marked. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/241/comment/435/

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csd on Seefin

The entrance to the megalithic tomb at the summit of Seefin. Unfortunately the roof of the cairn has collapsed. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/241/comment/436/

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murphysw on Seefin

A handy way to get onto Seefin if the red flags are out for army firing practice is to park up at the boulder lined layby at about C (O064 166). The firebreak here will cut straight through the forest and bring you onto the mountainside. The previous week I had gone up Seefin only and had taken the wrong firebreak which ended in a cul de sac. No worries, just scoot through the forest to the correct one. Once out of the forest follow the fencing until it swings away to the south. It doesn't present an obstacle as its badly torn up there. Then, its a straightforward slog to the summit and its tomb, which is the best of the circuit, though unaccessable to the less than thin! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/241/comment/2965/

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