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Midlands SW Area   Cen: Mauherslieve Subarea
Rating graphic.
Mauherslieve Mountain Motharshliabh A name in Irish (Ir. Motharshliabh [OSI], 'wilderness mountain') Tipperary County in Munster Province, in Arderin List, Greywacke, siltstone & grit Bedrock

Height: 543m OS 1:50k Mapsheet: 59 Grid Reference: R87323 61938
Place visited by 89 members. Recently by: Marykerry, chelman7, Tuigamala, Moirabourke, No1Grumbler, johncusack, westside, Krzysztof_K, Grumbler, Arcticaurora, Dee68, IrelandsEye, Ulsterpooka, mountainmike, Wilderness
I have visited this place: NO (You need to be a logged-in member to change this.)

Longitude: -8.188285, Latitude: 52.7088 , Easting: 187323, Northing: 161938 Prominence: 268m,  Isolation: 1.6km,   Has trig pillar
ITM: 587276 661981,   GPS IDs, 6 char: Mhrslv, 10 char: Mhrslv
Bedrock type: Greywacke, siltstone & grit, (Hollyford Formation)

Also referred to as Mother Mountain in some sources, though this seems to have no basis. Locally also called Moherclea or simply Moher. A pile of stones at the summit is called the Terrot. See Máire MacNeill, 'The Festival of Lughnasa' (pp. 214-15) for details of the festive assembly which took place on Mauherslieve at the end of June.   Mauherslieve is the second highest mountain in the Midlands SW area and the 440th highest in Ireland.

Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/368/
COMMENTS for Mauherslieve (Motharshliabh) 1 2 3 Next page >>  
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MountainViews.ie Picture about mountain Mauherslieve (<i>Motharshliabh</i>) in area Midlands SW, Ireland
Picture: View from north. Note mountain right flank green road.
 
Views, prehistoric site surrounded by extreme blanket bog.
Short Summary created by simon3, jackill  19 Jun 2023
There are interesting views from this not well known Arderin in the middle of the "Midlands SW" area. It has a prehistoric cairn on it. Caution: the summit area is covered in high irregular grass and heather which is energy sapping to cross. We recommend you use the south route. Take the blanket bog seriously or suffer the consequences.

Use the Kilcommon Pilgrim Loop to access the well signposted waymarked way to the summit. Park at R89506121 starA and follow the pilgrim path in reverse. Follow markers to one marked for the summit at around R88606140 starB. Total time around 2 hours.

Unrecommended but possible access from the north: use forestry entrance at R858 652 starC (Point A), room for 2-3 cars. Walk on an access road for about 2.5 kms to R86178 63100 starD where you can make a short diversion to Foilduff.
Continue on the road, where much of the forest has now been felled,right at the first junction, after 7-800 metres you will see a rough ride going downhill to your right then continuing on up to Mauherslieve. You will join a green road rising uphill and heading approx south, at the highest point of this road head east over the rough untracked bog for 200 metres to the summit cairn and trig. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/368/comment/5127/
 
MountainViews.ie Picture about mountain Mauherslieve (<i>Motharshliabh</i>) in area Midlands SW, Ireland
Mother Mountain by The Lord SummerIsle Route
by No1Grumbler  6 Jun 2023
Folk horror movies follow a similar pattern. Our hero arrives at a wonderfully fertile valley bursting with flowers and fruits, he is naïve but on some sort of quest. So it was with me, on the hottest day of the year I arrived in Kilcommon after midday, determined to obtain Mauherslieve for my list of Arderins. I parked in the protective shadow of the local church and prayer garden. The village being strangely deserted except for a shambling old man wearing religious medals who side-eyed me as he mumbled along. As I put on my boots, another old fellow shouted “Hello!” from behind a nearby wall. “I’m off to climb Mauherslieve” I said. “I hope the Mother gives you a breeze” he said back. I was startled by this frankly weird statement. At any moment I expected Christopher Lee to appear as Lord SummerIsle and invite me to his castle: “I boast the finest collection of folklore this side of Maynooth. Indeed the good fathers would be astonished by my copy of Malleus maleficarum” I looked up, the old man had gone and Lord SummerIsle hadn’t appeared. Essentially, I reversed the end of the pilgrim route, walking N uphill to reach a stile before a modern grey house. Having crossed the river, the walk was hot and heady with the scent of flowers and abundant bright yellow Tormentil, used in folk remedies across Europe since early times. I stopped at the mass rock with its fine view across the valley. I was in a clearing surrounded by white hawthorn. This being early June, the hedges and bushes were in full bloom.
I pushed on through open ground, then forest where the cool shade was a welcome respite from a baking sun. The bogland was bone dry and the ground hard as concrete. Higher again, I left the butterflies and bees to take the summit spur. A marker said “2h return” which proved conservative (1h20). As with most folk horror stories, a problem arose. My old Achilles injury began to trouble me, and I slowed down considerably. Nevertheless, I reached the summit 40 minutes after the turnoff. The summit has a chambered cairn oriented to the North, and it was here that the wandering sons of Mil, met the goddess Fodhla. In contrast, I had the summit of Mother mountain to myself with views to Keeper hill, and the Galtees. I hobbled back down to the pilgrim path and then down. In the horror movie this would be the point where a beautiful local would tend to my ankle with her mystical enchantments. No doubt the smell of silage and clouds of insects were discouraging the fair folk of Tipperary from doing the same- I made my own way down. I took a short detour before the river, to see a large standing stone in a neat Hawthorn grove, before returning to the car. I fed the village dog as I got the boots off. A fine day, full of scents and flowers and ancient sacred spaces. It had taken a leisurely 3.5h, but allow another 30 mins for photos, invocations to Pan or any ritual sacrifices you deem necessary. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/368/comment/23981/
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MountainViews.ie Picture about mountain Mauherslieve (<i>Motharshliabh</i>) in area Midlands SW, Ireland
Picture: View to the south of Mauherslieve.
 
Hazy views, low summits and windmills.
by simon3  3 Aug 2019
On a warm August day this was the view south from Mauherslieve. The Galtys dominate the far skyline with nearer hills of Tooreen, Gortnageragh and Knockastanna in the mid ground.
Although innocuous looking the blanket bog surrounding the top and trig pillar is very difficult to walk quickly through. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/368/comment/20593/
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MountainViews.ie Picture about mountain Mauherslieve (<i>Motharshliabh</i>) in area Midlands SW, Ireland
Picture: Summit cairn/trig pillar and the view east.
csd on Mauherslieve, 2007
by csd  25 Mar 2007
Poor neglected Mauherslieve! Its out-of-the-way nature is part of its charm, the dog and I spent the afternoon without seeing another human soul, though we did spot a rabbit and two deer. We parked by a livestock pen at R880 638 starE (there's room for a couple of cars), and then followed the track marked in sheet 59 through the forest as far as R869 626 starF. Here the clear felling starts, so we turned left and made our way up to the summit without having to push through the dense pine.
The summit trig pillar appears to have been constructed on the ruins of an ancient cairn, a collapsed part of which forms a shelter from the wind. Nice views over to Keeper Hill and surrounding hills. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/368/comment/2646/
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Nice views, solitude and spirituality
by BarnaneGoat  8 Jul 2017
Climbed this mountain during the week by taking a spur from the Kilcommon Pilgrim Loop, a way marked walking route that starts in Kilcommon village. I was surprised that the route to the summit was way marked for most of the way up. It ascends through forestry along a narrow trail before emerging onto boggy ground with a thin covering of small trees. Underfoot conditions are poor and the path is not distinct. The last few hundred metres is up through blanket bog. The summit itself is a low and pretty featureless dome shape but there is an interesting prehistoric cairn. At 530 metres, Mauherslieve has fine views in all directions. The mountain has mythical associations with ancient Celtic deities and thefestival of Lughnasa. Overall, not a huge challenge but rewarding views make it worthwhile. It is also very much off the beaten track so there is every chance you will have the place to yourself Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/368/comment/19588/
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MountainViews.ie Picture about mountain Mauherslieve (<i>Motharshliabh</i>) in area Midlands SW, Ireland
Picture: Highway to Hell
 
Mother of God!!
by TommyV  24 Nov 2018
What can I say about Mauherslieve? It really is one of those mountains that will have you asking yourself "What am I doing? Started out at the livestock pen mentioned by csd. It is important to note that the first 200 metres between the pen and the forestry entrance at R87768 63721 starG goes through private farmland and while there is a road it's not fenced off and the day I went there were bullocks running around the field. Stay to the right on the forestry track and take the left track at R87467 63500 starH. Follow this track for about a kilometer. You will see Mauherslieve on your left, keep an eye out for a break in the trees and that is the route to take.

There is a gap in the ditch at R86945 62605 starI, and this is where the real fun/ordeal begins. From here you will have to cross 100 metres of the worst ground with felled trees, stumps, holes, pools of water, heather, tussocky grass and newly planted tress. I assume once these get a bit bigger this route will not be an option. Once you get to the break in the tress the underfoot does not improve much but with a bit of hard work you will soon be on the open mountain. There is a 500 meters of heathery boggy ground to contend with here before you reach the trig point at the summit. The day I climbed here, the open mountain was covered in fog so I can't comment on any views, but I will NOT be going back on a fine day to see them.

Purely for hardened summiteers, if you insist on doing this one, look for a better way up! Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/368/comment/20209/
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