eoin on Lackabane

The first or last major summit (depending on your route) on the Cummeengeera Horseshoe walk above Rabach's Glen near Lauragh. The ascent/descent on the east side is a steep grassy ridge which can be wet, steep sides on the north face afford amazing views of the whole glen below and the hanging valley, lake and Tooth Mountain opposite to the north.

The photo of the twin summits of Lackabane is taken from Coomacloghane. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/268/comment/936/

weedavie on Lackabane

There was a murderer and robber lived in Cummenageera: now there's just an entrepreneur..

The round of this glen is great. Start at the right hand one of two gates at A (V765 575). Follow the track up and around the left side of the house. Vague paths lead on among bushes. When we emerged we went left to avoid a big rock step, crossed a wall and broken fence then turned SW up the hillside. This brought us at around 300 metres to the summit of Cummeenahillion.

From here a slight drop then a 170 metres climb goes due W Knocknaveacal. It crosses lines of diagonal crags which could probably be scrambled. Instead we diverted slightly north, passed through two bands and followed the third to the top. There's a couple of summits behind but they don't have even 30 metres of relative height. Seán'Ó Súilleabháin suggests bypassing Tooth Mountain but it's hard to think why. A marginal gain and you lose some fun ascending among outcrops then a pleasant walk along the edge of the corrie. From the trig at Coomacloghane there're good views north across the Kenmare River. Then we descended SW through more rock steps and from the pass (how do you guys live without bealach in your vocabulary?) climbed to point 584 on Esktariff. From here we had peat hags underfoot but great views to our left as we circled SE then E to its highest point..

We dropped SE to the hummock of Bireca (point 531 on the OS). From the side you see the impressive 200 metre drop on its north face. It's not so noticeable from its rounded top so it'd be worth paying attention in mist. We descended E then climbed NE to Lackabane. Great summit, great views then a dog leg ESE then NE to its twin top. There are two obvious ridges, N and ESE, from here but the real exit is down the broad NE slope. It quickly becomes well-defined, steep and quite narrow with a developing path. From the bealach below we dropped N to the end of the road. Here we met the entrepreneur, the local farmer charging 4 euro a throw to go up the glen and hitting us up for getting out. You'd miss this if you carried on over Deelis and descended to the bog road.

I've two guesses about this route. From what I've read it'd be worse in summer , the grass gets long on the ascent and gorse and bracken clog the way down. Don't know, it was great in April. The other is that it'd be better done in the opposite direction. You'd get the hard ascent over at the start and end with an easy descent with a great sea and mountain view ahead of you. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/268/comment/3125/

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NE Spur

The NE spur off Lackabane is something of a knife edge, descending steeply and with even steeper sides. Watch it on a poor day. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/268/comment/15017/

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Descent to Tooreenbaha

A very special vista opens up as you descend Lackabane to Tooreenbaha. I would love to have a wide angle camera that could show what the human eye takes in. This little picture shows part of the panorama, the view into Glanmore with its attractive lake. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/268/comment/17656/

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Caha Views

View from Lackabane in the Cahas towards the Kenmare River and hills of the Iveragh Peninsula in the distance. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/268/comment/18780/

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