Climb back in time

Baltinglass is set deep in the heart of Wicklow’s historic glens, and the sight of the imposing ruins of the Cistercian Abbey built above the bank of the River Slaney are testimony in stone to the fact that people settled here at an early period to farm the surrounding fertile land. But those who scale Baltinglass Hill looming above the village will be rewarded with much more than exceptional views. For close to the summit is evidence for the settlement of far earlier farmers in the area.

Parking is plentiful near the churchyard with its granite tower and a lane, shaded by trees hosting noisy rookeries which runs alongside, gives access to farmland. We pass across a couple of fields being grazed by sheep and cattle that are not perturbed by our presence. Eschewing the furze-choked cross, we head diagonally uphill to access croftland with large patches of unfurling bracken and a thin belt of easily traversed gorse at the top. The climb to this point is fairly steep, but the gradient eases as you pass into a large field used for grazing and the summit trig point looms into view. [ED: note this route is on private land and permission should be obtained before using it.]

After crossing this field, the widely spaced double ramparts of Rathcoran Iron Age hill fort are encountered, cut through by a stone wall we'd just crossed. A bird’s eye view would see it hugging the heather clad contours below the summit to completely enclose it. At the summit is a much earlier badly damaged burial cairn 27m in diameter which has been robbed of its granite stone to build a protective wall around it and to demarcate the boundary of Baltinglass and Rathbran parishes. The cairn, possibly contemporaneous with Newgrange, comprises 3 passage-tombs clearly constructed over time as they partly overlie each other, and 2 single-chambered tombs. The northern tomb is the best preserved, comprising a short passage with some of its roof slabs intact, leading to a chamber with 3 shallow recesses containing a large basin stone with pecked ornament. The southern tomb is a jumble of fallen orthostats, some bearing the faint imprint of spiral art, while the western tomb has a collapsed corbelled roof with a barely visible passage.

The site was excavated in 1934-6 revealing evidence of the cremations of at least 3 adults and a child. Finds of carbonised hazelnuts, wheat grains and a saddle quern point to the extent of local climate change, affecting both the landscape cover and human settlement patterns. From 3,000-3,500 BC, the climate was drier and warmer, the glens were densely wooded, people lived much higher in the uplands and Neolithic farmers could cultivate arable crops above 1,000ft, on the slopes of hills like Baltinglass.

The sweeping vistas over the Wicklow and Blackstairs Mountains alone are worth the climb, but to ponder the purpose and meaning of this high place to our distant ancestors and how it connects with the megalithic structures dotting hillsides nearby, make Baltinglass Hill an absolute must. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/864/comment/16101/

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At last, my 100th Local Summit

Sometime in 1969 or 70 I started climbing the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains, some of which are in what I would now call my Local 100.
I have climbed many of the higher ones many times and this year made a push on the more far-flung places such as Oriel Hill and Carrigroe. My final Local 100 was Baltinglass Hill which I enjoyed with two other veterans: madfrankie and wicklore. So having completed the challenge I now make a further claim: that of the slowest rate of climbing my local tops at around 2.5/ year. Beat that, young turks.
This panoramic view from the SW of the Wicklow Mountains shows Keadeen as the darker bump on the skyline about a quarter in from the right. Lugnaquillia is further away and just visible behind it. The apparently straight wall is that of the ringfort near the summit. The panoramic nature of the picture makes it appear straight, however in reality it is a circular enclosure. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/864/comment/6004/

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wicklore on Baltinglass Hill

As I drove around Baltinglass Hill looking for a likely approach point, I asked a farmer unloading sheep about access. He offered that I could park in his field and head up through his farmland. I said that I hoped to find a more public route, and he said that there was a lane beside the graveyard in Baltinglass that gave access onto the hill. He said it was ok to head up the hill that way. I found an overgrown track to the right of the graveyard at approximately A (S871 887). I followed this and in a few minutes entered the fields below Baltinglass Hill. I headed up towards a large cross and antennae at approx B (S878 892). I reached a field of painful gorse which stopped a direct uphill route, and much retracing of steps was needed to find a way through.
Reaching the cross I paused to look back down into Baltinglass and across to Tinoran Hill. Beyond the cross were more fields inhabited by cows, sheep and horses. I had to walk through them and I wondered if this was really the more public route the farmer had in mind.
The trig point of Baltinglass Hill was about another 700 metres beyond the cross. I enjoyed reaching it as I discovered the fascinating prehistoric hillfort there. The stone wall of the hillfort is a complete circle up to about 5 foot high in places. The wall itself is about 12 feet wide and I roughly measured the inside diameter at 60-70 feet. It is big! Within the circle are the remains of a few burial chambers. The weather was deteriorating rapidly and the views out to the east were disappearing. I just had time to say goodbye to Keadeen before she was engulfed in the rain clouds that would shortly reach me. To the south the Blackstairs were also cloud covered. In good weather I imagine this would be a fantastic viewpoint across the Wicklow hills.
There are no walker tracks and with the arrival of rain and cloud I used my compass to head back to the cross. I dropped down northwest to the road and walked back to my car.
I have no doubt that there are other routes available that don’t cross so much farmland. The forestry to the northwest of the summit might offer an approach. I would recommend that permission is sought every time before heading up from the graveyard side. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/864/comment/3308/

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wicklore on Baltinglass Hill

This photo shows a part of the huge intact hillfort beside the summit of Baltinglass Hill. I roughly measured the walls at 4-5 feet high, 12-15 feet thick and the interior diameter at 60-70 feet wide. The hillfort on nearby Tinoran Hill is almost buried, so this came as a huge surprise! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/864/comment/3310/

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Dec_Alcock on Baltinglass Hill

This is a view of the passage grave within the hill fort at the summit. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/864/comment/4497/

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