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Twelve Bens Area   E: Glencorbet Subarea
Rating graphic.
Benbaun Mountain An Bhinn Bhán A name in Irish (Ir. An Bhinn Bhán [logainm.ie], 'white peak') County Highpoint of Galway in Connacht Province, in County Highpoint, Arderin, Vandeleur-Lynam, Irish Highest Hundred Lists, Pale quartzites, grits, graphitic Bedrock

Height: 729m OS 1:50k Mapsheet: 37 Grid Reference: L78558 53903
Place visited by 595 members. Recently by: maitiuocoimin, Beti13, andalucia, leetelefson, jimmel567, agnieszka.s11, Cecil1976, Harry-Badger, adam.mann, AntrimRambler, amgall, Aneta.jablonska, wintersmick, Barrington1978, dunnejohn
I have visited this place: NO (You need to be a logged-in member to change this.)

Longitude: -9.831791, Latitude: 53.521228 , Easting: 78558, Northing: 253903 Prominence: 684m,  Isolation: 0.9km,   Has trig pillar
ITM: 478532 753923,   GPS IDs, 6 char: Bnbn, 10 char: Benbaun
Bedrock type: Pale quartzites, grits, graphitic, (Bennabeola Quartzite Formation)

An Bihnn Bhán means 'the white peak' and is the highest mountain in Galway. You could say it is the Mont Blanc of Connemara. There is a lot of white rock here, mainly quartz, though this is more a feature of Benbrack. An odd thing about the Twelve Bens of Connemara is that nobody seems to know exactly which are the twelve peaks in question. There are at least 20 peaks with names in binn in this area. However, the notion of twelve peaks goes back at least to the time of Roderic O'Flaherty, who wrote in 1684 of the twelve high mountaines of Bennabeola, though he did not enumerate them (O'Flaherty, 106). In Irish the question doesn't even arise: there is no number, they are just na Beanna Beola, 'the peaks of Beola'. Beola was a giant and chieftain of the Fir Bolg, whose name also features in the village Tuaim Beola (Toombeola).   An Bhinn Bhán is the highest mountain in the Twelve Bens area and the 89th highest in Ireland. An Bhinn Bhán is the highest point in county Galway.

Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/89/
COMMENTS for Benbaun (An Bhinn Bhán) << Prev page 1 2 3 4 5 Next page >>  
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Binn Bhan and meeting my first MV member. .. by dominic divilly   (Show all for Benbaun (An Bhinn Bhán))
 
Descending from Ben Breen to Maumina with Ben Bau .. by Sweeney   (Show all for Benbaun (An Bhinn Bhán))
 
A tourist in my own country .. by AdrianneB   (Show all for Benbaun (An Bhinn Bhán))
 
Kylmore river no match for us this time .. by paddyobpc   (Show all for Benbaun (An Bhinn Bhán))
 
MountainViews.ie Picture about mountain Benbaun (<i>An Bhinn Bhán</i>) in area Twelve Bens, Ireland
Picture: View from the summit
 
Breathtaking views in clear weather
by caillin_deas  30 Sep 2020
Visited Benbaun on Sept 26th '20 and what a day for it! Clear, blue skies, slight breeze, excellent visibility. I really, really enjoyed this hike.

Approached this peak from the North. Parked well in from the road - probably room for 6/8 cars close to the starting trail at L79622 57343 starA. Followed the trail until the small river then turned slight right to follow the river to the edge of a fence. Plenty or river crossing. Was fine on the day I was there but suspect after a few days of rain the river might be difficult to get across unscathed! Bring gaiters. There is a small wooded area to the right, this is where you head out into open mountain.

From there, you can basically follow the river or make your own way to the cairn at L78886 54620 starB. If you follow the river, be aware that the sides get quite steep and the ground is very boggy - I slipped here a lot on the way down! Lots of crossing the small river over and back.

You get to a very rocky/stony section, this is where I turned right again to aim for the summit at L78556 53904 starC. Lots of scrambling about, all good fun. Probably wouldn't be as fun in bad weather but as I said, the say was unbelievable. Views from the top were breathtaking. This has been my favourite Irish hike so far!

I followed the same route down. You need to keep your eyes open for foot placement and remember, the ground gets very steep by the river. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/89/comment/20908/
Your Score: Very useful <<  >>Average
 
I did the big horseshoe - Binn Ghleann Uisce, Gle .. by nohoval_turrets   (Show all for Benbaun (An Bhinn Bhán))
 
COMMENTS for Benbaun (An Bhinn Bhán) << Prev page 1 2 3 4 5 Next page >>
(End of comment section for Benbaun (An Bhinn Bhán).)

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