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Brandon Group Area , S: Ballysitteragh Subarea
Feature count in area: 15, all in Kerry, OSI/LPS Maps: 70, EW-DC, EW-DW
Highest Place: Brandon 951.7m

Starting Places (18) in area Brandon Group:
Ballinloghig, Ballybrack Mid, Brandon Pilgrimage Trail, Brandon Point, Brandon Village, Cloghane Community Centre, Conor Pass, Coosavuddig Quay Brandon Creek, Faha Grotto, Feoghanagh River, Hostel Cloghane Village, Lough Camclaun, Lough Doon CP, Mullaghveal Farm, Pedlars Lodge, Pilgrimage Trail Owenmore River, Sauce Creek Walkway Dingle Way, Tiduff

Summits & other features in area Brandon Group:
Cen: Faha Ridge: Benagh 822.5m, Faha Ridge 809.2m
N: Brandon Point: Faill an tSáis 430.7m
N: Brandon Ridge North: Brandon Far North Top 840.1m, Brandon North Top 895.4m, Masatiompan 761.9m, Pierasmore North Top 700m, Pierasmore 745.7m
S: Ballysitteragh: An Bhinn Dubh 479.2m, Ballysitteragh 623m, Beennabrack 608.5m
S: Brandon Ridge South: Gearhane 803m, Brandon Peak 840m, Brandon 951.7m, Brandon South Top 790m

Note: this list of places may include island features such as summits, but not islands as such.
Rating graphic.
Beennabrack, 608.5m Mountain Macha na gCab A name in Irish,
Place Rating ..
(Ir. Macha na gCab [OSI], 'plain of the beaks'), Binn na mBroc, Kerry County in Munster province, in Arderin Beg, Vandeleur-Lynam Lists, Macha na gCab is the 270th highest place in Ireland. Macha na gCab is the most southerly summit in the Brandon Group area.
Grid Reference Q46865 05372, OS 1:50k mapsheet 70
Place visited by: 219 members, recently by: orlaithfitz, Alatar78, JustMe, RosieMc, Aidan_Ennis, discovering_dann, glencree, dino, farmerjoe1, jackos, Djouce, maryblewitt, Marykerry, Dee68, DeirdreM
I visited this place: NO (You need to be a logged-in member for this.)
Longitude: -10.239485, Latitude: 52.179367, Easting: 46866, Northing: 105372, Prominence: 23m,  Isolation: 0.9km
ITM: 446849 605426
Bedrock type: Cross-bedded sandstone, (Coumeenoole Sandstone Formation)
Notes on name: The Irish name Macha na gCab and the anglicised name Beennabrack have very different meanings. It seems unlikely that they originally referred to the same feature. An Seabhac gives the name Binn na mBroc ('peak of the badgers') for this hill (TCCD, 143, 233), which shows that Beennabrack is a corruption. He does not mention Macha na gCab.
  Short or GPS IDs, 6 char: Bnbrck, 10 char: Benabrack

Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/273/
Gallery for Beennabrack (Macha na gCab) and surrounds
Summary for Beennabrack (Macha na gCab): Easy Climb from the South
Summary created by Onzy 20 Aug, 2014
            MountainViews.ie picture about Beennabrack (Macha na gCab)
Picture: pic:padodes - view north from the summit
Beennabrack is situated on the southern end of the Brandon ridge just north of the Conor Pass.

The hill can be reached from a number of directions. Most easily, it is hard to ignore the Conor Pass carpark ( Conr Ps (Q490 056)) - already at a height of c.400m, the summit should take no more than 30mins from here. Head west over An Bhinn Dubh.

More interesting is an approach from the north as the last significant hill in a north-south traverse of the Brandon ridge beginning at Masatiompan and ending at the Conor Pass. Any of the typical starting points for Brandon itself could be used. A full traverse of the ridge will take 6-7 hours one way.

A further approach is possible from the east - a circular walk beginning at Mullaghveal ( MulVeal (Q470 068)) and climbing north to Gearhane before swinging southwest along the ridge to Ballysitteragh and Beennabrack, descending to the Conor Pass and returning via the Cloghane Valley. Allow 4-5 hours for this.
Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/273/comment/5033/
Member Comments for Beennabrack (Macha na gCab)

            MountainViews.ie picture about Beennabrack (Macha na gCab)
jackill on Beennabrack
by jackill 22 Aug 2004
Coming down from the Brandon ridge at Fallaghnamara , A (Q459 078) ,623m.
Looking down the valley you can see Loch Dubh, Loch Geal, Loch Tarbh cut into the hillside above,Loch Ui Fhiannachta and the corner of Loch Neil Phadraig.The Summit of Ballysitteragh is just out of shot on the extreme right , Beenabracks summit is in the centre of the shot over Loch Geal with the Connor pass over the right hand corner of Loch Ui Fhiannachta ,behind the pass is Slievanea.You can make out where the tarred road ends at the farm at the end of the Pilgrims Route in the area of green fields between Loch Ui Fhiannachta and Loch Geal. There is plenty of room to park a few cars by the side of the road just before you get to the farmyard. The dwellings in the farmyard are uninhabited except for a few dogs the farmer working the land keeps there for rounding up his sheep, these dogs are locked in when the farmer is not there. After the farm there is a bridge over the stream and a gate with a stile , the road has changed to a rough track that leads over the gap to the Dingle side of the Mountains to Na Gleanna Thuaidh. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/273/comment/1110/
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            MountainViews.ie picture about Beennabrack (Macha na gCab)
padodes on Beennabrack
by padodes 9 Jan 2008
This view northwards, from the top of Beennabrack, shows the full extent of the valley leading to the sea at Cloghane. A tongue of Loch Tarbh is sticking out at the foot of the cliffs. After that the ground falls away steeply to the valley floor, with Loch Ui Fhiannachta and Loch Neil Phadraig beyond. To the left of the photo, the white thread of the Pilgrims' Route is just visible, skirting the end of a ridge leading up to Gearhane. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/273/comment/2941/
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            MountainViews.ie picture about Beennabrack (Macha na gCab)
padodes on Beennabrack
by padodes 9 Jan 2008
Looking across a stretch of Loch Ui Fhiannachta (Clogharee Lough), one can see the dark form of Beennabrack rising up behind. What is not visible is the little corry lake she holds in her lap: Loch Tarbh (Lough Coumeenoughter). Nearly all the lakes and mountain tops in this area seem to have both an Irish name and a very different anglicised alternative. Further back, to the right of Beennabrack, is Ballysitteragh Mountain (An Scraig). Coming from Cloghane, one can walk into this valley along the "Pilgrims' Route", as it's called in the OS 70 map, and up to the saddle on the right. From there, a fine walk can be had by skirting the north-facing cliffs of Ballysitteragh, Beennabrack and An Bhinn Dubh, right across to the Connor Pass. After that, a few hundred yards down the Connor Hill Road, it is easy to cross the fence to the left and circle back over the valley beneath the same brooding mountains, passing between Loch Ui Fhiannachta and Loch Neil Phadraig and then onto the Pilgrims' Route again. My own photo was taken at this stage of the walk. I have never experienced any access problem here. There is much to explore at the head of this valley, with the ruins of a good deal of human habitation gradually merging back into nature. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/273/comment/2940/
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Great round to Brandon Peak.
by nickywood 6 Jan 2022
Visited in September 2021 on the way round to Brandon Peak, enjoyed the walk very much on a partly cloudy day but got away with it. Easy Climb up from the Conor Pass and great round of hills. Came back the hard way via the valley and river crossing was tricky - probably best avoid that. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/273/comment/23378/
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            MountainViews.ie picture about Beennabrack (Macha na gCab)
Picture: A view of Beenabrack and Ballysitteragh from below Gearhane to the North
Steep Cliffs to the North
by Bunsen7 26 Jul 2021
It's a shame that I've only summitted this particular top in thick mist but on a subsequent fair weather hike to Gearhane to the north I captured this image which gives a fair impression of the cliffs above Loch Duff.

It also highlights the low prominence of Beenabrack (relative to Ballysitteragh), just 23 metres drop according to the stats in the MV detail.

If I remember it well, it's boggy, and there's a fence along the cliffs with a path almost the whole way from the Conor Pass. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/273/comment/23226/
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