simon3 on Coomnahorna

Some watery September sun shows off the northern cliffs of Coomnahorna and the glittering enclosed lake beneath it. This lake is called Slievenasashka Lough. (Try saying that quickly incidentally.) Some guidebook writers such as Richard Mersey [Hills of Cork and Kerry] use the name Slievenasashka for Coomnahorna.

The photo was taken from a tad over 2k away on the ridge near Dromtine (about B (V649 704)). The cliff on the right is the southern side of Coomcathcun. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/294/comment/2482/

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eric on Coomnahorna

OS Map 84. Quite a few routes can be taken to get to the summit of this nice mountain.

Described below is a circuit taking in both Coomcallee & Coomnahorna.

Take the N70 from Sneen towards the village of Castlecove. At C (V635 653) in the townland of Moneyflugh the Kerry Way joins the N70 for about 200 metres. Towards the end of this 200 metre stretch and on the left hand side of the road heading towards Castlecove there is good parking.

On a clear day Coomcallee & Coomnahorna with the deep coom seperating the two of them will be clearly visible in front of you. Cross the road and follow the Kerry Way up a forest track. The Kerry Way branches off to the left of this forest track and goes to Caherdaniel. Do not take this left turn but continue up along the forest track to the end.

Now you have to make your way through the forest and up the hillside marked Esknaloughoge on OS map. Keep an eye out for Lough Sallagh and follow a very defined ridge to Eagles Pinnacle. From here there are great views of Lough Currane, Isknagahiny Lough, Eagles Hill and Coomcallee in front of you.

Now would also be a good time to choose your line of descent from Coomnahorna towards the end of the walk with quite a few very obvious lines presenting themselves.

Anyway continue on your way up the side of Coomcallee till you reach its flat summit.

Continue on to Lough Coomeennatierna D (V631 685) which flows down into the coom below. Coomnahorna is now in front of you and on reaching the summit the sheer black rock faces on the eastern side of Coomcallee are visible.

The line of descent you choose while on Eagles Pinnacle earlier in the day is the next objective. Follow it down to the valley floor, cross a fense, then a stream and join a bog road at E (V637 664). Follow this bog road to a gate and continue down to a second gate onto a tarred road. Follow this road for about 300 metres back to the the main N70 road. Turn right and your car should be about 200 metres up the road on the left hand side.

Nice Walk!!!!! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/294/comment/2179/

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Kerry Way Access to a Potentially Classic Horseshoe

This has the makings of a classic horseshoe walk. Hard country and hard to get at, but I hope the following will make the latter aspect somewhat easier.
On a fine Sunday 3 June 2018, we took in Com na hEorna as part of a loop walk also encompassing the Sliabh na Seasca and Sliabh na Seasca South Top.
This route allows reasonably easy (?!) access and return via the Kerry Way
We parked at a layby at F (V67299 69156), returning south along the road to meet the Kerry Way at G (V67380 68612), turning north west along the small side road. This passes some farmhouses and presently degenerates into a gravel forest road. Keep following the Kerry Way until hairpin bend at H (V65956 68647) - leave the Kerry Way at this point - go straight, don't follow the bend. Follow the forest road WNW and then N. You will see the northern ridge of Coomahorna in front of you. Leave the forest road, travelling NW a 100m or so across the cutaway woodland, and go up the slope to gain the ridge at approximately at I (V65227 69193). Follow the ridge (travelling in a SW direction) until the summit is gained. It looks dodgy from below, but presents no particular difficulty as long as you stay back from the cliffs on the northern edge of the ridge.
The views are absolutely outstanding.
From here, we descended carefully to the north west and across the ridge to take in the Slieveshaskas. Rough country and potentially dangerous in poor visibility. Although the going was slow, we encountered no particular difficulties.
We descended along the eastward ridge between the Slieveshaskas to somewhere around J (V65644 70152). We carefully descended a ramp SW until we reached the valley below. We then made our way down down the valley to regain the forest road we started from near K (V65785 69199). Follow the forest road back to the Kerry Way and back to the starting point.
This little jaunt took a very fit and experienced group of (four) walkers seven hours under absolutely ideal conditions. I'd allow enough time and I'd be wary of doing it in poor visibility.
That said, it's a personal classic and superior to most of the more high profile walks around the country. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/294/comment/19943/

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The huge coum between the summit and Coomcallee

The coum between Coomcallee and Coomnahorna is really worth while seeing. This panorama was created using three pictures stitched together.
While most steep ground in Ireland tends towards the north and east, some of the cliffs here are on west facing parts of Coomnahorna. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/294/comment/6831/

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Photo from the west

Looking at it from the west this summit has some wild geology such as this gigantic set of slanted layers.

Left of this picture is the rough end of Coomcathcun while Coomcallee is to the right. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/294/comment/6836/

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