The old copper mining village of Allihies lies below a line of intimidating hills running E towards Knockoura. Huge shelves of bare rock thrust skyward as if the very bones of the earth had erupted through the crust here. It’s possible to drive up a road leading to the nearby hill of Knockgour with its prominent masts and then walk along the plateau to Knockoura’s summit to avoid an upward roller coaster ridge walk, but adventurous hillwalkers will enjoy the challenge of the ridge.

We parked at V58865 45837 A and progressed uphill towards the engine house of Mountain Mine that stands sentinel over Allihies where it has bravely faced the brunt of every Atlantic gale since 1862. Restored in 2004, this building housed a Cornish-design steam engine that powered apparatus to convey men up and down the mine. Fenced off areas prevent visitors from being precipitated down deep dark shafts and narrow voids to a watery underworld, the scars bearing witness to man’s exploitation of mother earth.

Continuing uphill in a NE direction passing by a large embankment that forms the retaining wall of a reservoir for the steam engines, we picked up the metalled road that leads over the mountains, part of the Beara Way. At the top of the col we left the road and turned east, carefully picking our way along the margins of a bog, startling two hares that bounded off into the distance. Traversing the great ribs of rock upwards towards the ridge, each with their deep carpet of bog between, involved some easy scrambling. Once on the ridge the route is easier and eventually descends onto a long, boggy plateau below the slope of Knockoura with its eroded peat hags. A simple climb leads up to the summit.

The views are spectacular, marred only by the masts on nearby Knockgour that actually looks higher. East, the Slieve Miskish Mountains march off toward rocky giant, Hungry Hill; SE, Bear Island, Castletownbeare, and just visible to the SW of the port, the newly renovated Dunboy Castle, former home of the Puxleys who owned the Allihies Copper Mines; W the wild and ragged line of coast leading to Dursey Island; N, the inky pimples of mountains on the Iveragh Peninsula.

We descended in a SW direction towards a dilapidated fence which we followed until meeting a col at the top of the Caminches Valley V61633 46576 B. We followed the burbling brook enjoying a series of small waterfalls and discovering hidden spring flowers until V60925 45922 C when we turned W towards Coom Mine engine house. However, we ran into an annoying maze of new and unwelcoming barb wire fences and we would not recommend a descent this way; it would be safer to return along the ridge. Unscathed by the wire we arrived at the lonely engine house at Coom Mine V59752 45566 D, sharply silhouetted against the Atlantic burnished by the setting sun. We returned to Mountain Mine via the clearly signed Allihies Mine trial exploring the old gunpowder magazine en route, arriving at our car 6hrs and 11kms later. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/485/comment/4673/

"No comments so far about Knockoura", says the MV computer, which is hard to believe when you see scenery like this. Has nobody ventured up there? Well, I must admit I haven't either! I just took my pretty picture and headed on round the Ring of Beara. Still, I hope the photo will inspire someone to tackle all those benches (please do not adopt Coleridge's breakneck Broad Stand strategy) and let us know if it was worth it. I think this photo shows not Knockoura itself but the ridge of hills a little to the west above the old Bearhaven Copper Mines. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/485/comment/3596/

It's possible to drive all the way to the masts at the top of Knockgour, or however far you feel comfortable on this twisty farm track. As I was in the wifes car and not my own, I decided to drive most of the way and I parked at the second last hairpin bend at around 400 metres. A short walk will bring you to the masts at the top of Knockgour. From here it's about a kilometer over to Knockoura along a rough track. Great views of both sides of the Beara Peninsula for little effort. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/485/comment/20158/