Irish Munro`s
Date walked: 25/05/2023
Irish Munro Odyssey
Towards the end of May 2023 a team of 8 brave members of the Innominata Mountaineering Club based in Stockport set off on a quest to climb the 14 Munros in Ireland. The peaks were in Wicklow, Kerry (with the formidable Macgillycuddy’s Reeks mountain range) and Tipperary.
The Ferry
We set off from the UK with expectations of long border queues, sea sickness and lots of rain. Climate records show Ireland having are 300 days of rain a year. Nothing could have been further from the truth!!
The ferry crossing from Holyhead to Dublin was flat calm in brilliant sunshine resulting in no sea sickness and also no rain was experienced during the crossing or for that matter no rain during the 10 days trip. One of the team had forgotten his cagoule (waterproof jacket for the un-educated) and arrangements were made for a new cagoule to be purchased in Wicklow, this proved to be un-necessary and was never used in anger.
Lugnaquillia – County Wicklow
Six of us met the following day to climb the first Munro in Wicklow called Lugnaquillia at a height of 3035ft. It was a beautiful sunny day, this lone mountain was not considered to be overly challenging. All was going well, when my friend Tony twisted his ankle badly. We were just 30 minutes away from the car. The result, a very slow decent and swelling and discolouration to his ankle over the next few days.
County Kerry
Following a lengthy car journey we all arrived in Kerry at the Climber’s Inn. The Climber’s Inn was to become our home for the next 5 days. Tony got to know all the local staff, while resting his ankle and treating the swelling with frozen peas and drinking many cups of tea.
Macgillycuddy’s Reeks Round One
Five of us ascended the first round of Munro’s in the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks on a very sunny day. The day’s target of five Munro’s included Carrauntoohil, the highest mountain in Ireland at 3409ft. This horseshoe of mountains of the twin peaks of Caher, Carrauntoohil and Beenkeragh included some difficult scrambling but we all managed to surmount the difficulties with no further injuries.
We celebrated wildly in the Climber’s Inn that evening having survived some tricky scrambling and ticking off five more Munro’s in the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks.
Mount Brandon
To keep to our tight schedule, six of us set off to our next target near Dingle the following day. We ascended Mount Brandon at 3123ft, following the Pilgrim’s Trail with a line of white marker posts and crosses marking the entire route. We were able to tick off the seventh peak on our Irish odyssey.
That afternoon we met up in Dingle, a town popular with tourists. Several alcoholic drinks were enjoyed, as was the live music on Sunday afternoon at Dick Mack’s pub and brewery and the “best chip shop in the world”.
Rest Day – Waterville on the Ring of Kerry
The following day was a rest day spent at the seaside in a small town called Waterville on the Ring of Kerry famous for the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic to USA. Two of our female members were very brave and took to swimming in the sea in very cold water despite the sunny day and warm temperatures.
Macgillycuddy’s Reeks Round Two
After our rest day we set off the following day to complete the remaining 6 Munros in the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks. All 8 members of the group set off from Cronin’s Yard car park. We split in to two groups. Five of us (Team A) set off at a brisk pace to complete the horseshoe of Munros and the remaining three (Team B) set off to climb Carrauntoohil.
Team B including Tony and his twisted ankle set off up Hags Glen, Devils Ladder up to Carrauntoohil. They succeeded in their objective, a great effort by Tony with his recovering twisted ankle and Paul who had to overcome a wardrobe malfunction, when he lost the sole from one of his walking boots.
Team A set off up Hags Glen, then followed the zig-zag path up to the high ridge of the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks (the bright sunshine and the heat made the ascent really hard work). After a brief lunch admiring the views in all directions we set off along the ridge and slowly climbed six Munros , including Cnoc an Chuillin, Maolan Bui and Cruach Mhor. This was a beautiful ridge walk generally above 3000ft up to the final two peaks where we encountered a scary knife-edge ridge. Some hours later and after some very difficult scrambling we celebrated with a second lunch on Cruach Mhor at 3058ft.
A rapid decent led down into Hags Glen and eventually into Cronin’s Yard to meet up with Team B. Several glasses of water, cups of tea, cake and ice-lollies followed for the next hour or so. Another great evening ensued in The Climber’s Inn with plenty of Guinness flowing and some lovely meals.
Sadly this was our last night at The Climber’s Inn in Glencar (well worth a visit if you are ever visiting Kerry).
County Tipperary
After a day travelling to Tipperary we arrived at our final destination in Cashel, a lovely town with plenty of tourist attractions and a fantastic castle on the rock`s above the town. We found the best pint of Guinness in Ireland at
T J Ryan bar, a great Indian restaurant called Saffron and on the second night a lovely Thai restaurant called Ruen Mying both in the town centre.
Galtymore
The final Munro was Galtymore at 3015ft which was climbed by a team of 6 including Tony with his much improved twisted ankle. We climbed Galty-Beg before the ascent of the final Munro, Galtymore before returning to Cashel that afternoon.
We had a great final night with lots of Guinness and a lovely Thai meal, plus a couple of wee nips of whisky. Truly a great team effort by members of the IMC.
Epilogue
This completed our Irish Odyssey of 14 Munros. For me, Malcolm, the completion of the Grand Slam of Munro`s i.e. all the 3000ft mountains in England/Scotland/Wales and Ireland. I believe that makes a grand total of 315 Munros in 35 years.
What a truly great trip to Ireland by IMC members with no rain at all in 10 days!!! and brilliant sun-shine throughout.
Towards the end of May 2023 a team of 8 brave members of the Innominata Mountaineering Club based in Stockport set off on a quest to climb the 14 Munros in Ireland. The peaks were in Wicklow, Kerry (with the formidable Macgillycuddy’s Reeks mountain range) and Tipperary.
The Ferry
We set off from the UK with expectations of long border queues, sea sickness and lots of rain. Climate records show Ireland having are 300 days of rain a year. Nothing could have been further from the truth!!
The ferry crossing from Holyhead to Dublin was flat calm in brilliant sunshine resulting in no sea sickness and also no rain was experienced during the crossing or for that matter no rain during the 10 days trip. One of the team had forgotten his cagoule (waterproof jacket for the un-educated) and arrangements were made for a new cagoule to be purchased in Wicklow, this proved to be un-necessary and was never used in anger.
Lugnaquillia – County Wicklow
Six of us met the following day to climb the first Munro in Wicklow called Lugnaquillia at a height of 3035ft. It was a beautiful sunny day, this lone mountain was not considered to be overly challenging. All was going well, when my friend Tony twisted his ankle badly. We were just 30 minutes away from the car. The result, a very slow decent and swelling and discolouration to his ankle over the next few days.
County Kerry
Following a lengthy car journey we all arrived in Kerry at the Climber’s Inn. The Climber’s Inn was to become our home for the next 5 days. Tony got to know all the local staff, while resting his ankle and treating the swelling with frozen peas and drinking many cups of tea.
Macgillycuddy’s Reeks Round One
Five of us ascended the first round of Munro’s in the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks on a very sunny day. The day’s target of five Munro’s included Carrauntoohil, the highest mountain in Ireland at 3409ft. This horseshoe of mountains of the twin peaks of Caher, Carrauntoohil and Beenkeragh included some difficult scrambling but we all managed to surmount the difficulties with no further injuries.
We celebrated wildly in the Climber’s Inn that evening having survived some tricky scrambling and ticking off five more Munro’s in the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks.
Mount Brandon
To keep to our tight schedule, six of us set off to our next target near Dingle the following day. We ascended Mount Brandon at 3123ft, following the Pilgrim’s Trail with a line of white marker posts and crosses marking the entire route. We were able to tick off the seventh peak on our Irish odyssey.
That afternoon we met up in Dingle, a town popular with tourists. Several alcoholic drinks were enjoyed, as was the live music on Sunday afternoon at Dick Mack’s pub and brewery and the “best chip shop in the world”.
Rest Day – Waterville on the Ring of Kerry
The following day was a rest day spent at the seaside in a small town called Waterville on the Ring of Kerry famous for the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic to USA. Two of our female members were very brave and took to swimming in the sea in very cold water despite the sunny day and warm temperatures.
Macgillycuddy’s Reeks Round Two
After our rest day we set off the following day to complete the remaining 6 Munros in the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks. All 8 members of the group set off from Cronin’s Yard car park. We split in to two groups. Five of us (Team A) set off at a brisk pace to complete the horseshoe of Munros and the remaining three (Team B) set off to climb Carrauntoohil.
Team B including Tony and his twisted ankle set off up Hags Glen, Devils Ladder up to Carrauntoohil. They succeeded in their objective, a great effort by Tony with his recovering twisted ankle and Paul who had to overcome a wardrobe malfunction, when he lost the sole from one of his walking boots.
Team A set off up Hags Glen, then followed the zig-zag path up to the high ridge of the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks (the bright sunshine and the heat made the ascent really hard work). After a brief lunch admiring the views in all directions we set off along the ridge and slowly climbed six Munros , including Cnoc an Chuillin, Maolan Bui and Cruach Mhor. This was a beautiful ridge walk generally above 3000ft up to the final two peaks where we encountered a scary knife-edge ridge. Some hours later and after some very difficult scrambling we celebrated with a second lunch on Cruach Mhor at 3058ft.
A rapid decent led down into Hags Glen and eventually into Cronin’s Yard to meet up with Team B. Several glasses of water, cups of tea, cake and ice-lollies followed for the next hour or so. Another great evening ensued in The Climber’s Inn with plenty of Guinness flowing and some lovely meals.
Sadly this was our last night at The Climber’s Inn in Glencar (well worth a visit if you are ever visiting Kerry).
County Tipperary
After a day travelling to Tipperary we arrived at our final destination in Cashel, a lovely town with plenty of tourist attractions and a fantastic castle on the rock`s above the town. We found the best pint of Guinness in Ireland at
T J Ryan bar, a great Indian restaurant called Saffron and on the second night a lovely Thai restaurant called Ruen Mying both in the town centre.
Galtymore
The final Munro was Galtymore at 3015ft which was climbed by a team of 6 including Tony with his much improved twisted ankle. We climbed Galty-Beg before the ascent of the final Munro, Galtymore before returning to Cashel that afternoon.
We had a great final night with lots of Guinness and a lovely Thai meal, plus a couple of wee nips of whisky. Truly a great team effort by members of the IMC.
Epilogue
This completed our Irish Odyssey of 14 Munros. For me, Malcolm, the completion of the Grand Slam of Munro`s i.e. all the 3000ft mountains in England/Scotland/Wales and Ireland. I believe that makes a grand total of 315 Munros in 35 years.
What a truly great trip to Ireland by IMC members with no rain at all in 10 days!!! and brilliant sun-shine throughout.
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3peaker
- Activity: Munro compleatist
- Pub: Navigation Stockport
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