The Nephin Begs are a fine group of mountains that are relatively unspoiled by human activity. Several of the smaller hills in the range have never received any comments at all on MountainViews, despite their being easily accessible by road. This reflects how little visited these mountains are. Tirkslieve is an example of this – it is next to a road but has only been climbed by 6 members of MountainViews, and has attracted no comments at all up to now. Tirkslieve is situated on the eastern side of The Glennamong River Valley, which lies above Lough Feeagh. It could be the first (or last) summit in a full horseshoe circuit of the valley.

From Newport I took the N59 Mallaranny/Achill road and after 1km joined the minor road heading north towards Lough Feeagh. I reached F963 028 C (Map 31). There is a Coillte access track running from here around the southern slope of Tirkslieve into the Glennamong River valley. This is suitable for cars as long as you drive slowly over the odd pothole. There is a post-and-wire gate on the track that is easily opened. Be sure to close it after you as it helps control sheep and cattle. The track soon reaches the ford that is marked on the map at F948 024 D. There is now a modern concrete bridge here, no doubt to carry heavy Coillte machinery. The access track continues into the forestry, allowing vehicle access further than implied by the simple track shown on the map. This allowed me to park at F944 030 E in a lay-by. I walked another 100 metres north on the track to reach an area of cleared forestry. I turned right (east) and picked my way 100 metres over rough deforested ground to reach the Glennamong River. Tirkslieve rises on the other side of the river, but first I had to follow the river a few hundred metres north to find a safe crossing point. I’d recommend crossing the river at the concrete bridge mentioned earlier.

Because I was starting at about 30 metres altitude, I had to climb nearly all of Tirkslieve’s 401 metres. This was a steady haul up, and it was bog all the way, with a mixture of heather and grass. I met a fence at F953 036 F which runs down the southern spur of the hill. The summit is a short distance beyond the fence, and is an area of exposed rock topped by a little stone cairn. There are great views of the ridge of hills around the Glennamong River valley from Bengorm to Corranabinnia and on to Glennamong. These are quite impressive and appear sharp and steep in places. Buckoogh, Birreencorragh and Bullaunmore fill the eastern view, while Lough Feeagh laps up against the southern spur of Tirkslieve. To the north lies the undulating forested land that gives access to Nephin Beg and Slieve Carr. You can be up and down Tirkslieve in about two hours, although you will need several more hours to continue on and complete the circuit of the valley. Despite the forestry operations in the Glennamong River valley below there is a fine sense of isolation here on this little visited hill. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/829/comment/6488/