jackill on Lough Curra Mound

I hadn't visited Lough Curra in I guess 4 years but today the dog, the wife and I were blessed with bright sunshine for a relaxing ramble to its summit. Towering buttresses of naked red sandstone rocks hanging above us, snow filled gullys leading the eye up to the rocky summit of Galtymore, two red dots of spidermen slowly ascending one.
Lough Curra and Lough Diheen are mentioned as being of note in
" Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland" (1900)By P. W. JOYCE
Mr Joyce also gives the following explanation of the original name for the Galtys which I hadn't come across before.
"The Galty Mountains were anciently called Crotta-Cliach or Slieve-Crot or Slieve-Grod, which name is still preserved in that of the old Castle of Dungrod, in the Glen of Aherlow, near Galbally.
Beside Cashel there were anciently three royal residences in Tipperary. One was Caher, the old name of which was Caher-Dun-Isga; the present castle, on the rock in the Suir, occupies the site of an old circular stone fort or caher, which was destroyed in the 3d century; and that caher was erected on the site of a still older dun or earthen fort. The second was Dun-Crot, which is now marked by the old castle of Dungrod (mentioned above), a comparatively modern edifice, built on the site of the old dun. The third was Knockgraffon, about 3 miles north of
Caher, which was the residence of Fiacha Mullehan, king of Munster in the 3d century. The remains of this old palace are still standing, consisting of a very fine high mound; it is celebrated in legend, and the surrounding parish still retains its name--Knockgraffon." Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/277/comment/4500/

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Spring sprung Lough Curra.

Politics, recessionary gloom, folk yelling on mobile phones an elbow from your ear, as if the contraptions magically rendered everyone else invisible or audibly redundant , computer viruses, and melancholia, all perfectly sound reasons for seeking out an amphitheatre of hush, served with a bed of Alpine Rock Cress, and the aroma of fresh surround air. Brilliant early March sunshine melds into a fuzzy haze of children’s colouring-in. Greens, mauves, sand, silvers and gold, petrol stain the landscape. Would madam like a sprinkling of birdsong, an effervescence of bubble at her feet when the step is released, a whisper of wind in her hair, by the nape of her harried neck, or the taut skin pulsed by a pressing vein, and would she like it uninterruptedly served, and languidly drizzled over the course of the day? Yes, yes, and oh no matter how politically incorrect, YES! From Clydagh Bridge Clyda Brg (R87450 27780), along the right ( relevant) dirt track out of the car park, through wood, over style, across marshy pasture, up to the ‘ice road’ path, wafting its way ever upward to Lough Curra like a finger traversing a bountiful menu, and at last the splendid reveal of feast for the famished. A bowl of lake booms in its belly, having pigged out all morning on a vast blue sky and swallowed it whole. Frequently and inoffensively it burps, giggling at its edges, where the lower, naked slopes have plunged their extremities. On those slopes where the sun don’t dare peek, is a sugaring of frost unfazed by the festival beneath, inclining to complete indifference in their dark shades, too cool for their own good. Things jump in the lake. Indiscernible. Could be fish, could be joy. Facing the lake, and immediately behind us, stretched for the heavens, Lough Curra’s edges rouse, and so our route to Galtymore and Dawsons table. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/277/comment/6277/

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jackill on Lough Curra Mound

Jimmy, I have seen one sign advising that dogs are unwelcome at one access point on the Aherlow side of Lough Curra. I did not access the lake/mountain by that route.Perhaps I should explain that I was brought up on and still live and work a farm in the foothills of the nearby Knockmealdowns. For upwards of 30 years we have kept sheep(dry cattle, suckler cows also).It is true to say uncontrolled dogs can chase sheep and indeed can attack and mutilate them in the very worst of cases( which I have experienced myself firsthand).If I was a farmer over whose lands groups of people /families regularly walked then I would think a blanket ban might be the easiest way to prevent harm to my sheep from those who don't know any better. However , rightly or wrongly I would like to think I don't fall into that category,at this time of year sheep are at particular risk from shock/stress due to the fact that they are probably pregnant.In my experience however the threat from dogs is no greater than that from humans. As long as the dogs are collared and not allowed to run after and worry the sheep then there is no danger, indeed the sheep are oblivious to them. Sheep are only injured if the dog actually bites them or chases them for a sustained period of time.My dog was collared at all times when near the sheep on that day and was not even let loose on the forestry track back to the carpark. I could take exception to the suggstion from someone who does not know me that I set out to injure animals, surely on mountainviews there can be a trust that contributors are not just mindless vandals? You must have read some of my comments before Jimmy, surely a line through the messaging service?
And as to Lough Curra Mountain, 1. What is its summit height compared to the lowest point on the col next to it? 2.What is the qualifying criteria for a summit on MV Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/277/comment/4568/

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simon3 on Lough Curra Mound

Lough Curra mountain sits beside Lough Curra. It and the cliffs above it have attracted a lot of attention. Robert Lloyd Praeger [The Way That I Went] draws attention to these cliffs (and the one above Lough Muskry, further east): “The alpine flora of the Galtees, which is fairly rich in comparison with that of other Irish mountain regions, is concentrated on these high cliff-ranges over the tarns. The rarest plant which occurs is the Alpine Rock Cress, of which a small colony was discovered by H.C. Hart about Lough Curra.”

Anyway the lakeside setting for the mountain is simply magnificent. I doubt many people visit the place in a year, certainly there are no tracks or signs of anyone passing. You could reach the place from the North starting near Clydagh Bridge (A (R874 281)). I got to it by descending from Slievecushnabinnia, a drop of some 200m. Choose a route off Slievecushnabinnia that veers well to the left of the lough to avoid cliffs Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/277/comment/536/

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jackill on Lough Curra Mound

Lough Curra and Lough Curra Mountain ( in the sunlight) from the ridge under Galtymore heading for Slievecushnabinnia. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/277/comment/1236/

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