Surrounded by sucking bogs, Conavalla can take quite an effort to get to if it's been wet. Beware, the nice fat forest track on the southern side of Conavalla, shown on the Harvey and Hely maps, doesn't extend as far as shown. If you're thinking of using it to head for Lugduff I'd think again! Picture shows Conavalla taken from the top of the Table Track, with Tonlagee in the background on the left. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/86/comment/641/

Just west of Art’s Cross (T 038 991 G), a stream tumbles from the plateau to form Gleenreemore Brook in the valley below. Slightly east of the foot of the waterfall can be seen the memorial to Art O’Neill (T 036 994 D), indicating the spot where, according to tradition, he breathed his last. It’s easily missed, since the grassy ramp that marks the beginning of the ascent (or end of the descent) alongside the waterfall takes you away from it. It’s a granite plaque in Irish set into a striated boulder, with a little cross on top. It was placed there, as a few lines tell us at the bottom, by Cumann Siúlóirí na hÉireann in 1992 - the four hundreth anniversary of Art's death - to replace another that had been there since 1932. Although this is a recent memorial, it is sculpted in the elegant demi-uncial script of earlier years, so my guess would be that it has simply copied the 1932 model. Passing by yesterday, 9 Feb. ’08, I noticed several Christmas wreaths were still lying at the foot of the memorial, so obviously Art is no forgotten figure in our history. The fact that he faced the rigours of these hills in winter gives him a place in walkers' hearts, too. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/86/comment/2960/

Almost 2 km due north of Conavalla, at the edge of the upland plateau rolling wetly down from the top of the hill and about midway between Lough Firrib and Three Lakes, lies Art’s Cross (T 038 991 G). In pre-GPS days, when thick fog descended on this broken bogland, it could be quite tricky to find the landmark, since the terrain never allowed the walker to follow anything remotely similar to a direct bearing. As it happens, the Cross doesn’t mark the exact spot where, according to tradition, Art O’Neill died in 1592 on his flight from Dublin Castle to Glenmalure with Red Hugh O’Donnell. That spot lies in the valley, below, close to the foot of the nearby waterfall. The view from the top, looking northwards, takes in a beautiful expanse of mountain scenery from Tonelagee in the NE right across to Mullaghcleevaun in the N, and Moanbane and Silsean in the NW (the latter three, left to right, are visible in the photo). Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/86/comment/2959/

Conavalla hates me. It really does. I finally reached the top on my fourth attempt. Three other attempts were thwarted by weather but I was going to beat it. Third attempt via Tomaneena and I was determined to get it.
The mountain threw everything it had. Mist, blizzard and bog all combined to try and make me turn back. At one point the ice broke on the bog and I sank over my knees. I got one leg out but the other was stuck fast. I had to sit down and dig out peat with my hands. I then crawled over cracking bog ice to a hag where I considered turning back. No, the top was only a few hundred metres and I did get it.
Returning to Lough Firrib, I took a wide detour to avoid the worst of the bog but Conavalla released her white out. Luckily I had GPS as well as my map so she let me proceed to Tomaneena and down to Wicklow gap.
The bog is a killer but I beat Conavalla. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/86/comment/19834/