The lough on the summit plateau, named after Cailleach Beara is where Fionna Mac Cumhaill got his grey hair (and legend has it that anyone who bathes in it to this day will suffer the same fate!), Ti Chulainn, where Setanta became Cuchulainn is said to have been situated on the Mullaghbawn side of the mountain. The summit has two cairns, the collapsed one at the northern end and the Armagh county highpoint on the southern end of the plateau. This passage tomb is still intact and the entrance is faced towards the rising sun on the morning of the winter solstice.

The courtyard at the foot of the forest drive has a coffee shop, gardens, carpark, large playground & other facilities. At J043197 A the tourist route can be started here, following the tarmac drive up to the top carpark. Or, drive up to the carpark at J018201 B and take the path which leads to the summit. Not a route for the purists!

The classic route is from the north, starting from the gate at J026230 C. It goes over open mountainside, follows tracks and is waymarked by metal arrows to the northern cairn, across the plateau, passing the lough to the summit cairn.

A third route starts by parking up in the Longfield townland at J0138618750 D. Follow the Gullion Way markers over a variety of different terrains up to the top road of the forest drive, before turning left and heading past the top carpark and following the path to the summit. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/322/comment/5082/

Fionn Mac Cumhaill hunted on this very hill and the even greater legend, Cuchullain himself got his name in that famous battle with the hound on it's western flanks. I have walked this mountain in all conditions and at all different times of day and night and it still keeps drawing me back. I even forgave it after a 10km night trek in thick fog, with badly blistered feet!

So, when the snow landed, I wanted to go out and taste it, but given that I was walking on my own I wanted to tackle a mountain that I was familiar with. I also wanted to take my favourite route, approaching from north. I would normally park the car at the old Killeavy churchyard at J040 221 E, this 6th century site is worth a look, as is the trek up to Naomh Monnina's well on the eastern flanks of Gullion behind it. On this day I chanced getting the car to the reopened viewpoint car park at J 032 232 F, which I just about managed! From here you follow the quiet Ballard road up to the gate at J 026 230 C. It faces a white washed cottage and you turn left on to the open mountain side to the let the real walk begin!

The route is way marked the whole way to the northern summit cairn by metal arrows and a few yellow arrows painted on rocks! In good weather this provides little navigational challenge if you have your wits about you and stick to the track. On this snowy day it was easy to follow until about the last 70 metres of ascent, when the conditions became significantly more challenging and the task of navigating really began. On reaching the northern cairn, the challenge was not over though, with very limited visibility my big fear on the summit plateau was getting closer to Cailleach Beara's Lough than I would like to! Is it an Irish thing to repute that nearly every lough is bottomless! I did at one point get turned around and ended up heading back towards this lake which I had passed already, but being aware that the wind should not be on my back, I corrected my error and made good progress to the main summit from here.

I was glad to see the summit cairn for a few reasons, one of them being that I knew that it would provide excellent refuge from the conditions. So I crawled in it's western entrance and enjoyed a nice flask of tea, a sandwich and some Christmas cake! I really didn't fancy the trek back the way I came and daylight would be against me, so once refreshed I did the sensible thing and headed for the forest drive. The route from the cairn to the drive has recently been "sanitised" by extensive work, providing a path to the summit, on this occasion I was thankful of it I will admit. This new path starts at J018 201 B, just past the highest car park. From here it was a case of following the forest track back to the courtyard and back along the road to return to the car in the dark and end up doing a 14km loop walk, instead of the up and down that I had originally planned. But hey, it was still a great walk, as it normally tends to be with Gullion. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/322/comment/14913/

Cra’s recent contribution on Slievemartin, advises things to see include a particular stone if you are so disposed. In the case of nearby Slieve Gullion, there are more stones to see than were ever thrown at the RUC - even in these dodgy parts. From Slieve Gullion, one can see half of Ireland: the far away half - the nearer half is still in hiding. This is badland, bandit country y’all. Much of oul Ireland’s epic mythology, bloody history and troubled recent past emerges one way or another from these bogs and outcrops. Town names synonymous with mischief: Crossmaglen, Forkhill, Jonesborough. Mist-cloaked heroes of the imagination: Cuchullain, Maebh and a Cooley bull. Tales of Red Branch Knights, daring-do, greed and glory. Gullion is not a tough ask and is accessed from a forest car park or car “selection point” as it might better be described. A well preserved (despite being reappointed by looters) neolithic passage tomb decorates the mountain summit and claims to be the highest in Ireland. The demented heather-basher will find fault in the endless tarmac approaches but accepted in terms of a pleasant day’s walk rather than a Himalayan ascent, they offer colourful floral verges and panoramic vistas into verdant countryside. Still water lies near the summit and it is said (or probably, “cackled) that who/he/she or whatever plunges into its dark depths will certainly come out white headed and whiskered - and that may go for women too - which explains a lot. And one last stone - somewhere in mid-history time, two local and inseparable men friends carved their names on a half submerged rock on the side of Slieve Gullion, if not entwined, at least cheek by jowl. Whether sons of Gullion Mountain or Brokeback Mountain we shall never know. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/322/comment/2847/