wicklore on Tinoran Hill

At A (S846 903) on map 55 there is a gravel track. I drove up this track and it quickly branches. The right hand track leads to a private house. A locked gate blocks the track leading straight ahead. I enquired at the farm on the left and was told this is a Coillte access track and they keep the gate locked. The farmer said it is ok to park at this locked gate, but not to block the track leading to the private house. There are no signs to indicate this is a Coillte access road.
I followed the track in an easterly direction, passing through two more gates. A few minutes walking brought me to forest tracks which lead to the top of Tinoran. From my car it was about 20 minutes to the top.
The summit is wooded and it is not possible to see across to the Wicklow mountains. The remains of the hillfort are partly visible over a wide area. There is no appreciable ‘summit’ to this hill but I did find a few scattered rocks between four trees that might once have been a summit marker.
By stepping out of the forest to the south I had views down to the Blackstairs, but they were shrouded in cloud.
I also found an old birdwatchers tree house at the summit. I climbed it to get the views north and east over Wicklow. However the trees were too high and blocked the view. Judging by the state of it, it probably hasn’t been used in years.
Nothing inspiring or unusual about Tinoran Hill except the abundance of rabbits on the way up. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/946/comment/3304/

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Further Information

On 22/10/17 the gate to the forestry lane was closed over (though unlocked), so I peered into the laneway running parallel to the forestry lane and spotted a farmer to enquire about access.

There is no issue using the forestry laneway to access the hill on foot. I parked on the roadside to the front but well away from the entrance to the house but it might be preferable to drive up the forestry laneway. There is very limited parking.

There has been recent tree felling on the hill, particularly near the summit area, which is now largely covered in timber stacks. There is still no clear view eastwards from the summit though. The best of the views on this day was southward but it was misty and I could only really see as far as Hughstown.

The farmer also told me that there had been an academic studying the hillfort in the last 2 years. He said he had been given a large tome upon completion. He couldn't recall the name but I said sure presumably the internet has everything these days.

Low and behold this morning I found "The Baltinglass landscape and the hillforts of Bronze Age Ireland, by
O'Driscoll, James, at https://cora.ucc.ie/handle/10468/3532.

This appears to contain a lot of information that would be of interest to the hillwalker before a ramble up any of the hills around Baltinglass.

On Tinoran, although the original wider enclosures seemingly date from the bronze age, the author states that "The small enclosure at the summit of Tinoran, ‘The Round O’, may be Early Medieval as its slight banks and modest size are more suggestive of an Early Medieval ringfort than a later prehistoric enclosure."

The recent activity at the summit is not helping to preserve any of these features. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/946/comment/19768/

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wicklore on Tinoran Hill

Those willing to climb right up onto the platform of this tree house on the summit of Tinoran might get good views over to the mountains of the Glen of Imaal. I climbed most of the way but the wood was slippy and I didn’t climb high enough to clear the trees for the view. The discovery of this old tree house should be tucked away as a useful titbit of information! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/946/comment/3305/

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Come back when the trees are cut.

Following in wicklore's meticulously described footsteps I would have to agree with him. A viewless summit. At the moment it is in the bottom 10 as regards summit rating on the whole island. Still, judging by the size of the sitka spruce trees, there is going to be harvesting in the next few years and it may then be possible to use the unique position (most westerly in the Dublin/ Wicklows) to get good views to the South West.
If you are going there, read up on the archaeological features. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/946/comment/4654/

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Peek-a-boo with the views

While a dose of felling would certainly improve the views from Tinoran, I believe there are worse summits than this sylvan peak. As well as the lapine population (which was still very much in evidence), the local bird population also appears to be large and diverse, and a nice vista over to Mt Leinster is possible if you look for it.
The track that wicklore mentions looks like a private driveway, starting at a gate with yellow gate posts, and has a sign advertising fresh eggs for sale on it. If you don't want to park on the track itself, there's room for a few cars out on the main R747 roadway. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/946/comment/4736/

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