Most Magical Mountain

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 C (J040 221), 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 D (J032 232), which I just about managed! From here you follow the quiet Ballard road up to the gate at B (J026 230). 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 GullVP (J018 201), 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: mountainviews.ie/summit/322/comment/14913/

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tsunami on Slieve Gullion

My local mountain, I've lived all my life barely a mile from its base and it's summit has always been my favorite place on earth. Since I've been registered with Mountainviews I've climbed Binnian and Bearnagh which I found to be awesome, but they don't compare in my eyes to Gullion and its magnificent sence of solitude and remoteness.

Unfortunately however I feel I have to warn fellows walkers on this board of recent problems with this area.

For years I parked my car either in the Slieve Gullion Court Yard or the Mountain Drive car park which provides quick access to the summit. A fortnight ago my car was broken into along with a second and both had items of value stolen from them. In this age of Mobile phones the Mountain drive provides gangs with the perfect opportunity too watch you arrive from a safe distance while their friends remain in the lower car park warning them of other cars on the approach, giving them enough time to watch you leave your vehicle and go up the mountain, break in and escape along the mountain drive to safety. This applies somewhat to the Ballintemple viewpoint carpark on the northern end of the mountain also, but here it proves more difficult for the thief because they don't have the security of the one way traffic system through the mountain drive.

I will not let this experience prevent me from enjoying this magnificent mountain, but in future will always be dropped off and picked up again at given points.

I hope any fellow members planning a visit to the area take heed and do not park cars on this mountain - it will only take away from one of the best panoramas in the country! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/322/comment/1185/

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Gullion is safe

Great news for friends of slieve Gullion. As a local I have been always been annoyed that the car parks were not safe to leave your car in ( despite the efforts of locals). The car park is now staffed full time by a vigilant local funded by the local council so you can leave your car in total safety for free. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/322/comment/18237/

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Bleck Cra on Slieve Gullion

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: mountainviews.ie/summit/322/comment/2847/

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Car park security

The security situation has improved greatly in recent years. At the bottom of the mountain the car parks are monitored by CCTV and locals are constantly on the lookout for dodgy characters. I live near the foot and have parked there hundreds of time without any problems. For those who are more cautious a good idea is to park at The Three Steps Pub and tackle Gullion from there - also a good excuse for a pint or two afterwards! There are many alternative routes to the summit but these are mostly only known by locals. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/322/comment/5987/

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