If the mists stay away, a walk up Leenane Mountain - or is it a hill? - offers one of the most spectacular panoramas in Ireland, writes Michael Kelly
AFTER FIVE hours of walking in the Maumturk Mountains, in Co Galway, during Leenane Walking Festival I am sitting in Gaynor's bar in the village, drinking a well-earned pint. A friendly local asks why I look so dishevelled. I tell him, with considerable pride, that I've just climbed Leenane Mountain. "We call it Leenane Hill around here," he deadpans, putting me back in my box.
It is true that Leenane Mountain is not particularly high, with a peak of 618m, but it is a challenging climb. Put it this way: it doesn't feel like a hill. And the views are incredible, especially if the area's notorious mists play ball.
Leenane Mountain is the most northerly point in the Maumturks. Our route starts at the farm of Bernard King, who is part of our walking group, along with his wife, Alison (in a great example of the co-operation that can exist between landowner and walking festival).
A sense of ancientness is always your companion when you mountainwalk, but when you have an archaeologist as your guide (in our case, Michael Gibbons) it is all the more pronounced. Gibbons expertly imparts a sense of the ever-changing ebb and flow of this landscape and the people who inhabit it - the only permanent feature is change.
There is evidence, he tells us, that the valley has been inhabited for six millenniums. It is treeless now, but it was most likely heavily forested in Neolithic times, then cleared of trees, then heavily forested again in the Bronze Age.
We pass a megalithic tomb that dates back to 3000 BC - only recently discovered, when the bog around it shrank enough to reveal it.
We pass a deserted 19th-century village that, like many others in the region, was abandoned after the Famine. The hardy folk of pre-Famine Ireland lived at higher altitudes than we do. It was only later that they began to move off the mountain to live closer to sea level. The remains of potato drills on the slopes here are as poignant a snapshot of tragedy as the excavated bodies of Pompeii.
Our route takes us up the centre of the valley, thereby eschewing the more common paths up ridges to the left and right. It's a difficult ascent over boggy terrain. Having reached the top, with lungs on fire we head west and are rewarded with one of Ireland's most spectacular mountain panoramas: spread out below us are the Maam Valley, Lough Mask, Kylemore Lough, Inishturk, the Bens and Ireland's only fjord, Killary Harbour. This feast for the eyes keeps the mind off the weariness of the body.
Our descent back to Leenane takes us on to a short stretch of the notorious Western Way, a walking route that stretches about 180km from Leenane to the Ox Mountains.
And so, eventually, to Gaynor's and that wonderful creamy pint.
Leenane Mountain Co Galway
Start and finishLeenane village.
Distance10km, taking in a 618m summit.
TimeA leisurely five to six hours.
Best thing about the walkSpectacular views and jovial camaraderie.
SuitabilityThis is not a walk for beginners. We would have found navigation and route-finding extremely challenging without a guide or in poor weather.
MapOrdnance Survey Discovery Series sheet 37.
AccommodationWe stayed at Delphi Mountain Resort (095-42208,
www.delphimountainresort.com). Other options include Leenane Hotel (095-42249,
www.leenanehotel.com), Delphi Lodge (095-42222,
www.delphilodge.ie), the Convent B&B (095-42240) and Portfinn Lodge (095-42265,
www.hotelinconnemara.com).
Pit stopGaynor's or Hamilton's (or both).