Thursday 26 September 2013

Ireland's Highest Peaks - Brandon Mountain

Of all the hills in Britain or Ireland, which do you prefer? According to Hamish Brown, a man who knows his hills, Brandon Mountain on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry is the best. Given such a recommendation, I was eager to experience it for myself.

Virgin Mary at the start:


There are two main routes up Brandon Mountain. To the west, a pilgrim route is marked by crosses and small white posts. It would be difficult to get lost, even in thick mist. To the east, a quieter but more dramatic path cuts up into Brandon's impressive eastern corries, with the sporting option of a narrow, scrambling ridge. We decided to ascend the corrie path from Brandon Bay, descend the pilgrim route towards Smerwick Harbour, and worry about getting back to the start when we got down.

Entering the corrie:


Cloud obscured any views from the summit, topped like Carrauntoohil by a large cross, and we hung around a while hoping it would clear. Seeing that it wasn't, we headed down the pilgrim route.

Summit:


Almost immediately we broke out of the cloud. It had filled the corrie and capped the summit but left the rest of the mountain free. Looking back, we could see the way we had come up, from a fine beach below in Brandon Bay to the east and the corrie we had ascended.

Brandon Bay:


Brandon's fine eastern corries:




The pilgrim route shows a completely different aspect to Brandon Mountain, an easy if sometimes steep path, well marked.

The pilgrim route:


No great corries or deep lochans on this side of the mountain but instead, fantastic views across the green patchwork of Dingle to abrupt seacliffs and steep rocky islands.



On our way down we got chatting to a couple who were touring Ireland in their campervan. They offered us a lift back to Brandon Bay and we gladly accepted. So is this the finest hill in Britain or Ireland? Many would say not - including the campervan couple - and that hills such as Liathach or the Buachaille provide more sporting routes and spectacular views. Yet there is nothing in Scotland like the views across green fields to sharp islands and creamy beaches, and the association with St Brendan - who, according to some, discovered North America in the 6th century - adds an extra dimension to this fine mountain.

Clouds clear on Brandon Mountain:

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Craig - with your excursion round the Reeks which you detailed in the earlier blog, I was going to ask whether you'd also managed to climb Brandon. Clearly you had. Back in June, we had a warm, early evening ascent to get clear views off the summit (a rarity, I suspect). We chose the easier western approach, but I'd definitely want to revisit using the approach from the eastern corrie - it looked much more spectacular from the summit! David

blueskyscotland said...

Looks even more spectacular in your photographs than in other
pictures I've seen in books over the years, including HB's. Shows you how much photography has advanced to produce great sharp images like this without lugging a huge brick of equipment in your rucksack to capture it. A mountain I've had my eye on for years but never my feet alas. Well done for bagging it in decent weather.

Robert Craig said...

Eastern approach definitely the best David. If it had been clear, we would probably have taken the scrambling ridge towards the summit.

It's a good area, would like to go back. Next time I go to Ireland it will probably be the Mournes though.