summit almost precipitously to the Atlantic, is perhaps the finest ocean
cliff in Europe. The ascent from the hotel, almost at sea level, is
easy. It is best to drive down to Teelin Bay, and strike up the mountain
westwards along the coast. Carrigan Head is soon reached, and from a
point north of it, on the south side of Bunglass, the finest view of
Slieve League is obtained. This gradual ascent to about 1,000 ft. is a
glorious experience.
[Illustration: GLEN HEAD]
From the southern Bunglass cliffs the view of the richly-coloured
precipices opposite is superb. This colouring is a remarkable feature.
The cliff is well-nigh sheer for 1,000 ft., descending straight from a
heathery brink. With the exception of the wonderful cliff seen in
Yellowstone Park from 'Inspiration Point,' the writer could name no
rock-face with such an assemblage of hues. Dolerites, diorites,
quartzites, schists, and conglomerates all help to form this remarkable
mountain. Below the Atlantic lights up and enhances the whole scene.
Though usually breaking into heavy surge it is sometimes as smooth as
glass, and then the visitor should secure a boat at Teelin (or Towney
Bay), and row beneath, viewing the caves. One of these, with a small
entrance and a vast interior, gives forth appalling reverberating echoes
to a horn or a gun.
At Bunglass there is a track leading down to the sea, and a swim rewards
the descent. Crossing the heavy-shingled foreshore to the base of the
opposite cliffs, there is a gully which appears practicable from below,
and leads to the very crest of the cliffs. The violence of storms and
the pitiless pelting of surf below and dislodged fragments from above
have cemented the steep floor of this slit into an uncompromising
hardness. The writer tried it, passed one or two bad places, and was
rejoiced beyond measure to reach the bottom with unbroken bones.
From the summit of Bunglass cliffs, at a point a little north of the
Eagle's Nest, at an altitude of 1,000 ft., it is practicable to traverse
the whole face of Slieve, at about the middle height, 700 to 1,000 ft.
above sea level, from end to end, to the bluffs of Leahan. In two or
three places the ocean edge can be reached, besides the point already
mentioned. In search of botanical specimens we have climbed them in all
directions. There is a track (of a sort) to the sea at one place between
the Eagle's Nest and the One Man's Pass. While scrambling along the sea
face this track was discovered amongst steep heather, bracken, and
bear-berry, and a footprint showed it to be a human resort. Finally an
old man and a little boy emerged from the ocean brink, loaded with
samphire, both inside and outside, and eating it as they rested on their
climb. Vastly surprised at the appearance of the only stranger they had
ever seen there, they eagerly besought him to remove his boots--a
suggestion declined with thanks. Samphire boiled with milk is a cure for
a cough, but it was a novelty to see it eaten raw. This track is called
Thone-na-culliagh ('Back of the Grouse').
It took the writer three summer days to complete this traverse from end
to end of the median height of Slieve League. Several nasty ravines,
iron-floored and steep-edged, had to be crossed. At the close of each
day an ascent had to be discovered--an anxious undertaking, as the
return invariably seemed too dreadful to contemplate. The point
relinquished at the close of each day was religiously repaired to on the
following.
Excessively steep slopes of cemented gravel, grass, or crumbling rock,
half held together by heather, are the usual difficulties. But in four
or five places odd right-angled walls of horizontal, loosely-balanced
blocks of slaty schist jut out right across the face of the cliff, the
legs of the angle being sheer to the sea and horizontal above. The
blocks lie loose upon each other, and are not always large enough to
give one a sense of anything except the rickets. Usually it was possible
to climb beside these buttresses, and, balancing by them, get over in
gingerly fashion. But one--the largest--had to be climbed on
equilibristic principles. Sheep tracks follow the face of the cliff in
some places. Where a sheep can go a man can go, though he may not like
jumps from bad footing to worse landing, where even sheep occasionally
come to grief. Accordingly a track going horizontally here looked
encouraging to the writer, till a flock of wild goats, signally scared,
put his confidence to flight, for a wild goat will lead a man where he
may find it necessary to make a prolonged halt. However the goat track
vanished upward, and the seven-mile traverse was successfully completed
to the Eagle's Nest.
From the summit of Slieve League there is a fine oceanic view of island,
headland, bay, and cliff. South-east of the summit, at a slightly lower
altitude, is the _One Man's Pass_, about the terrors of which a great
deal of rubbish has been written. It is a steep, narrow, short ridge of
firm rock, which any mountaineer would walk up or down with his hands in
his pockets. In a storm he would, however, adopt a worm-like attitude.
The sides are very steep, but practicable both seaward and inland. It
commands a superb view. Among the legends connected with Slieve League
one about a Spaniard, a priest, and a pony is the most captivating (see
_The Donegal Highlands_).
[Illustration: ONE MAN'S PASS]
Slieve League is capped by the remnants of outlying beds of lower
carboniferous age, conglomerates, with fossil plant remains. Botanically
also this mountain is most interesting, rivalling Ben Bulben for first
place as a habitat for mountain plants in Ireland. There is an
interesting feature visible from the summit--a group of spire-like
pinnacles, close below the crest of the ridge. These are known as the
'chimneys,' and form an attractive assemblage. They are of the same
nature as the flying buttresses already spoken of.
[Illustration: THE CHIMNEYS (SLIEVE LEAGUE)]
Slieve League takes its name from 'liag' (flag). There is a flag
formation near the summit. Bunglass is 'Green River Mouth,' but a modern
guide-book translates Bunglass 'Beautiful View,' a ludicrous error
explained by the fact that the point which gives so noble a prospect of
Bunglass is known as Awark More ('Great View').
_Croagh Gorm_ and _Blue Stack Mountains_ lie north and west of
Barnesmore Gap and above Lough Eske, reaching nearly to Glenties, Lough
Eske being about 30 miles east of Slieve League. The coast eastwards
from Slieve League becomes suddenly low, and the formation changes to
carboniferous limestone, which occupies a broad belt round Donegal Bay.
The Blue Stack group is about 7 miles across.
_Blue Stack_ (2,219 ft.) lies above Lough Eske and is granite, although
the Lough itself lies in the limestone. About Lough Belshade, which lies
north of Lough Eske, about half-way up the east side of Blue Stack, the
granite is precipitous, and one bold bluff west of this lake (Belshade),
with a sort of little cave in its face, may be taken in the ascent of
the mountain. Most of the granite portions of the range are rounded,
flowing, gently contoured, barren slopes of bare rock, sometimes at low
elevations becoming steep and difficult. The ascent of Blue Stack from
Lough Eske should on no account be missed. The lake is about 10 miles
round, and most beautifully situated at the southern base of a bold mass
of rugged, desolate granitic bosses and cliffs, cleft by a few fairly
steep ravines. In direct contrast to this sombre scene is the west shore
of the lake, which is girt with timber, chiefly natural. Ardnamona is
the nearest portion of this sylvan scene to the mountain base, and the
whole basin is admirably sheltered by the surrounding mountains from the
violent storms which of late years have been more destructive than ever.
From the road above Ardnamona, looking down over it upon Lough Eske and
its solemn background, the view is perfect. It is a sort of compact
Killarney, which the eye and mind will long feast upon.
North-west of Blue Stack, a couple of miles from it, lies _Lavagh More_
(2,211 ft.), a fine upstanding lump of turf-covered schists. Schists and
sandstones constitute the greater part of these hills. From Lavagh More,
descending southwards, by a series of lakes, the head of the Shrule
River is reached, in a valley with a precipitous northern side, which
gives difficult bits of crag work. In this valley at the northern end
lies a waterfall known as the Grey Mare's Tail.
The Blue Stack Mountains are best explored from Donegal on the south or
Glenties on the west, in both of which places there are comfortable
inns. It is best to drive to the head of Lough Eske, and it is a fine
walk from that, including most of the tops, down to Martin's Bridge, 3
miles from Glenties, over Blue Stack, Lavagh More, and Silver Hill.
In the mountainous district around Glenties other excursions are
available. A walk to be recommended is from Barnesmore Gap (drive of 7
miles from Donegal) across the Croagh Gorm and Blue Stack summits to
Glenties. Barnesmore Gap should by all means be visited. The mountains
on either side rise 1,500 to 1,700 ft., not quite precipitously, but
with bluffs, heavy boulders, and steep rocky faces. Caesar Otway gives a
highly-coloured description of this impressive scene. Another way to
explore the group is to follow up the course of the Reelan water through
a peculiarly secluded and remote valley. From Glenties to Ardara is
about 4 miles, and the latter village is a capital halting place.
Fishing and fowling can be had. The road from Ardara to Carrick, about
10 miles, passes up the wild, grand gorge of Glen Gesh by a zigzag road,
reminding one of some of the Swiss ascents. For the sake of the varied
scenery obtained by these doublings it is almost preferable to stick to
the road till near the summit. On the south side of this glen it is
bounded by a range known as _Altnadewon_ or _Croaghnagcaragh_ (_Reek_,
'hill of the thicket'). A steep rock face extends from the main road at
the 'nock of the Ballagh,' or Pass, which forms a wide amphitheatre on
the north face of the highest point of this range (1,652 ft.) For some
distance it is by no means easy to scale this declivity.
Towards the southern verge of the county the coast is low and flat, but
the bold precipitous face of Ben Bulben looks highly attractive.
Before leaving Donegal it will be well to mention one useful hint. The
Ordnance maps of this county show 100-ft. contours, which are of the
utmost advantage upon any excursion, as the height of any point attained
by the pedestrian may be fixed within a hundred feet. Very few other
parts of Ireland are thus favoured.
* * * * *
=The Ben Bulben Range= lies in the northern part of Sligo and Leitrim; a
most conspicuous object in the landscape viewed from Slieve League
across Donegal Bay. The shapely escarpment of the nearest point looks,
indeed, as if it belonged to Donegal, which is 7 miles away. This
portion consists of _Cloughcorragh_ (2,007 ft.) and _Ben Whiskin_ (1,666
ft.)
These mountains are almost entirely carboniferous limestone. Much of the
group is an elevated plateau, girt round on all sides, or nearly so, by
limestone precipices, usually some hundreds of feet high, rising from a
long steep slope of debris. The height of the cliff edges is about 1,600
ft., of which the talus occupies about two-thirds. The cliffs are fine,
but consist largely of insecure blocks. Occasionally a fissure occurs,
permitting ascent or descent, and some very steep ones are used on the
south side of the range by turf-cutters.
In consequence of this formation the pedestrian may find himself
following a long series of cliff edges, without being able to discover a
way of descent. To examine the cliffs the proper course is to follow the
sheep walk, which usually occurs at the base of the precipices above the
talus. The walk across the range, from Bundoran to Sligo, is full of
interest to a mountaineer, and the descent into the valley north of
Sligo from _King's Mountain_ is one that will never be effaced from his
memory. It is not easy to find the passages leading down. The valley is
a vast amphitheatre almost enclosed by cliffs, sheer and, including
talus, about 1,000 ft. high.
It is always a pleasant experience to follow the crest of a line of
limestone cliffs. Similar cliffs on a smaller scale are those of Moher
and Aran, in the county Clare. It is probably owing to the fissures and
laminations of the limestone, which afford a perfect system of internal
drainage, that such cliffs are not only dry and clean, but also free
from the gullies and valleys which, causing frequent ups and downs,
sometimes render cliff walks extremely fatiguing--near Waterford, for
example. Again, limestone grows no heather and forms little peat, so
that the usual footing is clean grass sod--very pleasant after hummocky
tussocks--and yielding 'quaas.'
For these mountains Kinlough is perhaps the most convenient centre.
Manor Hamilton and Dromahaire may also be utilised, but Bundoran and
Sligo, though the latter commands the beautiful Lough Gill, are too
distant from the hills.
It may be mentioned here that there are various attractions in Northern
Ireland outside the scope of this work. Fishing is always in reach, and
of late years golf has thriven apace. No finer links exist than those of
Portsalon, Rosapenna, Portrush, and Newcastle, and there are many others
of growing excellence.
Ben Bulben is famous for its mountain flora, a valuable report on which,
by Messrs. Barrington and Cowell, has been published by the Royal Irish
Academy.
* * * * *
=Mayo.= Here are the highest mountains in the west of Ireland, Mweelrea
(2,688 ft.) and Nephin (2,646 ft.)
[Illustration: MAYO AND CONNEMARA]
_Nephin_ is a round, isolated lump of quartzite, becoming schistose,
rapidly disintegrating on a northern spur, where the only declivities
occur. For the mountaineer it is both distant and unattractive, but on
clear days--which are rare--there is an extensive view.
About 10 miles west of Nephin the axis of the Corslieve range is struck
near the middle of its almost north and south direction. This chain of
hills includes Laghdantybaun (2,369 ft.), at the northern end, Corslieve
(1,785 ft.), Nephinbeg (2,065 ft.), and several others over 2,000 ft.
The chain is about 15 miles in length, terminating near Newport, where
fairly comfortable accommodation can be had. The northern hills are
slate or sandstone, the southern quartzite. It is an interesting range,
and the scenery is wild and rugged, but there is little true climbing.
The best way to approach them is to drive from Leenane Inn to the Deel
River, due north, and then strike west over a wet bog, full of dunlins,
plover, and curlew.
_Achill Island_ is about 15 miles west of Newport. The mountainous
peninsula of Curraun Achill intervenes, and is about 7 miles across,
rising to a tableland of 1,300 to 1,500 ft. in height, composed chiefly
of horizontally-stratified sandstones and conglomerates, not very safe,
but pleasant enough to follow along by the terraces on its north-eastern
edge. Juniper is remarkably abundant here, and, at lower levels,
Mediterranean heath.
On Achill Island there is a comfortable hotel at the 'missionary
settlement,' which is about 10 miles from the ferry. The settlement is
at the base of Slieve More (2,204 ft.), the highest point of Achill.
This mountain is well worthy of a visit, but far finer are the noble
cliffs at Croghaun, about 5 miles west of Slieve More and 2,192 ft.
above sea level.
[Illustration: ACHILL HEAD]
Achill is mainly quartzite, which rock invariably looks and is barren
and forbidding.
There are several points along these cliffs where a descent to the sea
is practicable, and plenty of climbing is obtainable along the face of
Croghaun, which may be traversed in all directions, the cliffs having
the appearance and repute of being more inaccessible than they really
are. The rock (quartzite) is broken into screes and heavy shingle in
many places.
_Croaghpatrick_ (2,510 ft.), famous for its unrivalled view, and
formerly called 'The Reek,' has a northern face of precipitous
declivities where the quartzite formation (as on Nephin) gives place to
schists and shales. The view to the north of Clew Bay, with its hundreds
of islets and Achill beyond, is unsurpassably lovely. The climbing is
more of a 'slither' amongst rotten footing or shingle on the northern
side. The summit is crowned with numerous cairns, being a famous
'pattern.' The beautiful St. Dabeoc's or Connemara heath abounds.
Westport, at its foot, has an excellent hotel, and it is better to
return here from Achill, or vice versa.
_Mweelrea._--Unlike the quartzite mountains, which are usually conical
or dome-shaped, Mweelrea is of a totally different structure. Composed
of Silurian slates chiefly, it forms an extensive tableland at the north
of Killary Fiord, in the south-west corner of Mayo. It is intersected by
three principal valleys, radiating at about equal angles from Doo Lough.
One--that of Delphi and Bundorragha--runs southward to the Killary.
Another--that of the Glenummera river and Owenduff river--has an
easterly trend to the Eriff. The third valley is that of Doo Lough,
Lough Cullin, and Lough Connel, which runs north-west to the sea. The
names of many of these points, such as Delphi Mountain, the highest
above Doo Lough, and Loughty Mountain, its elevated eastern spur, ending
in Glen Laur--are not given on the Ordnance map, and were obtained from
the natives. Error easily arises in nomenclature. A hill or ridge may
have a name known to a few, or belonging to one slope, or to a people
living on one side. Again, it may lie along the boundary of two town
lands, and each may give its name to one side of it. Moreover the
pronunciation is a study in itself. Near Newport there is a district
called on the map Burrishoole, and a bay named Bellacragher. These are
pronounced 'Brizzool' and 'Ballycroy.'
The Mweelrea group consists of a series of plateaux, bounded by long
ranges of precipices, ridges, and gullies, often ending in sheer
ravines. Mweelrea itself fronts the mouth of Killary Fiord, curving in a
grand tabular ridge, 2,600 ft. high, above two small lakes at 1,200 ft.
The pass of Delphi and Doo Lough are the most imposing scenes in the
west of Ireland for wildness and sombre grandeur.
The climbing is of varying difficulty. Between their bases and the
screes below tempting ledges wind upwards, but here the strata are
almost vertical, rendering them extremely treacherous. A nasty fall
impressed this peculiarity on the writer's memory. In other places the
rock is sandstone, mixed with decomposing conglomerates--a formation
worse to scale than any except the miocene trap rocks of the Antrim
coast.
There is one interesting and difficult climb. A lake--Glencullin ('Glen
of Hollies') Lake--lies immediately north of Doo Lough. A stream runs
into the south-west corner of this lake out of Glencullin, starting from
a series of black, sunless precipices, seamed with gorges and well-nigh
2,000 ft. high. These can be climbed by two gorges at least from base to
summit. The name of these cliffs is Asko Keeran ('Ridge of Mountain
Ash'), and when the crest is gained a fine walk is the reward, over Ben
Bury (2,610 ft.) to the highest point, Mweelrea (2,688 ft.), along a
curved ridge one to two miles long.
One portion of the Mweelrea system--that which lies immediately east of
Fin Lough or Delphi--is known as Ben Gorm, or Kead-na-binnian. The
cliffs upon this mountain are formed chiefly of gneiss, which breaks up
into blocks, owing to numerous transverse fissures across the
lamination. These blocks lie on one another, often on a steep slope,
owing to the roughness of their surfaces, which prevents their sliding.
They are then more dangerous even than slaty rocks, since this very
roughness beguiles a climber into feeling that the footing is safe at a
steeper angle than on the smoother surfaces, while the rocks are merely
in unstable equilibrium.
Maamtrasna, Slieve Partry, the Formnamore Mountains, or Letterbrickaun
('Wet Hill of Badgers'), abut upon the head of Killary Fiord. The
highest points, or rather flats, are Devils Mother (2,131 ft.),
Maamtrasna (Formnamore) (2,239 and 2,209 ft.) They are chiefly composed
of sandstone and sandstone conglomerate, and form a series of high
barren tablelands, dotted with pools, and of no interest whatever.
The above group, as well as Mweelrea, is within easy reach of the
excellent Leenane Inn at Killary.
_Cliffs._--Of the numerous magnificent cliffs on the western seaboard of
Ireland none, in the writer's opinion, excel those of North Mayo.
Certain aspects of Slieve League are grander, the cliffs of Moher are
more splendidly symmetrical, Horn Head, Dunaff Head, Achill, all have
their glories, but the Mayo cliffs are unmatched for extent and variety.
From Ballina by Ballycastle to Belmullet, round the coast, is the finest
sea-cliff walk the writer has ever experienced. For three days there was
no cessation of variety in shape, in sculpture, in colouring of the
precipices, always lofty and always plunging into a surf-like snow
beneath, fringing the blue ocean outside. Occasionally, but rarely,
ravines occur, leading to some tiny rock-bound bay. The coast here for
many miles is higher than the land inside, and the streams flow away
from the sea to the south, and then west to the Atlantic. Perhaps the
most hopeless area of undrainable bog in Ireland lies in Western and
North-Western Mayo.
Although it was impossible to omit mention of these cliffs, they are not
for the climber. They are too sheer, and, what is worse, there is no
accommodation. From Ballycastle west to Belderg is within reach. But it
is west of Belderg that the cliffs are grandest, as at Glinsk, Doonmara,
and Benwee Head. Without the happy fortune which enabled the writer to
use a shooting lodge, located west of Belderg, the distances would have
been impossible without camping out.
From Belderg to Belmullet the rock is chiefly a hard and reliable
quartzite, often seamed with dykes of basalt. Numerous needle-shaped
islets, stacks, and stookawns occur. The whole coast abounds with sea
fowl, and is singularly free from human influence, since the absence of
bays, strands, or harbours renders long stretches of it uninhabitable
even for fishermen.
Otway's _Sketches in Erris and Tyrawley_ (1841) should be read.
* * * * *
=Galway Mountains.=--The Galway Mountains, besides the Maamtrasna range,
spoken of above, are _Maamturk range_, _Benchoona_, _Bennabeola_ or
_Twelve Bens_ (or 'Pins').
_Maamturk range_, including the hills which form such a conspicuous
feature in Joyce's Country, extend, roughly speaking, from the Killary
Hotel south-east to Lough Shindilia, at the Half-way House on the coach
road from Clifden to Galway. It forms a zigzag series of beehive-shaped
domes, connected by ridges, which are frequently 500 ft. to 1,000 ft.
below the neighbouring summits. Usually these connecting ridges are set
at angles with the tops quite at variance with the main axis of the
chain, and are invisible from the summits, so that compass bearings are
most misleading.
These truncated mounds are composed mainly of gneiss, sometimes of
quartzite, and in the northern portion the chain becomes more fertile
and of a clayey, schistose nature. They are very similar to the Twelve
Bens, save that the latter have their conical tops still adhering,
apparently showing that this elongated line was more vulnerable than
the self-protecting 'Pins' cluster.
This chain is singularly barren, but so bold and conspicuous a feature
in the landscape claims exploration. The writer once traversed the whole
length of summits from the Half-way House to Leenane in a walk, or
climb, for about 14 hours. The going is often excessively rugged and
wearisome, owing to the loose detritus of heavy, angular quartzose
blocks. An occasional oasis, as at Maumeen, charms the eye with its
verdure and some botanical treasures. Near this an hotel once existed,
but at present there is nothing nearer than Glendalough or Leenane, at
the extreme ends of the range.