White Mountain or Cooliagh

There are at least six 'Brans' (granite tors) along this ridge of which Bran Scultair aka The Aerial Brans is just one. In the course of preparing mapping for this area, as far as I can see to date, the general name for this ridge, particularly from the Wexford side is White Mountain. The name might originally come from the rock outcrops on the Wexford side at the southern end but now seems to apply to the hill as a whole.
Patrick Kennedy's stories published in the mid 1800's, routinely refer to White Mountain. However he also uses Cooliagh in places for the same ridge and I suspect this is the older name, possibly from the Carlow side as that is much rockier - as in Liath. The gap between White Mountain/ Cooliagh or Carraigalachan and Blackstairs, where the old road crosses is known as The Meeting, after the pattern day, I think. However again the older name is the Cooliagh Gap or Mam a Chuliagh according to Kennedy. This pass was in regular use at the time of his writing for people journeying from Rathnure district across to Borris etc. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/446/comment/6672/

Read Less

wicklore on White Mountain

There is widespread forestry that covers the eastern slopes of the Bran Scultair – Carrigroe – Carriglachan ridge of hills. This forestry stops abruptly at the top of the ridge, and the western slopes are relatively free of forest growth. Therefore from Bran Scultair it is simple to handrail this forestry along the ridge north for the 3 ½ km walk to Carriglachan via Carrigroe. As if this wasn’t an easy enough route to follow, there has been an almighty track gouged out of the bog along the ridge. This extends from Bran Scultair to beyond Carrigroe. It is up to 15 feet wide in places. There is another 4 foot wide strip alongside this track made up of the debris that was dug up to create the track. This track must have been created to facilitate forestry operations but it really seems like overkill. It appears like a white scar on the landscape and is highly visible along its length. The whiteness is because of the stone and rock that is the base of the track. It stops just before the drop to the col north of Carrigroe, and the rest of the journey to Carriglachan is along a more traditional wide boggy track. Complaints aside, the track makes the route easy to walk, and the views are great to the west. As murphysw has said, it is possible to drive the car as far as you want along the forest tracks, even to within a half kilometre of the summit of Bran Scultair. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/446/comment/3939/

Read Less

walker_hollick on White Mountain

There is a mast at the top and it is possible to drive to this using forest tracks. Alternatively
you can start at GR B'Bawn Ln (S809 410) about a mile and a half from Rathnure - there is parking for
about 2 cars next to a bridge. From here you can follow forest tracks up to the col between
Blackstairs and Carrigalachan and from here follow the ridge in a roughly southerly direction
to Bran Scultair. From there either retrace your steps or follow forest tracks back to the start.

I found OS 68 to be quite accurate regarding depiction of tracks. Navigation is fairly easy, the trickiest part is probably finding the start. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/446/comment/968/

Read Less

murphysw on White Mountain

To access the road to the summit, drive to A (S758 364). This is the start of the road to the summit, which begins just after the Piano Gallery (???). The main road swings to the left, ours goes straight. Despite being marked as a track, its actually in great nick for an unsealed road and is more than suitable for an ordinary car. There is a barrier near the bottom so beware being locked up on the Blackstairs for the night! You can park the car anywhere, depending on how much work you want to do. I parked at B (S784 393) and took the path to the summit of Ballycrinnigan Rock, with its summit cross and Millenium Altar. From there its a straightforward stroll to the top of Bran Scultair with its mast and strangely perched trig point. The views over Carlow and to Brandon are superb especially when you do not have to break sweat to get there! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/446/comment/3081/

Read Less

milo on White Mountain

A small top to end a long ridge. A stony tricky area for solo walkers. Descent to the west can be a navigational challenge Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/446/comment/56/

Read Less