Cloghane Route

Approach

Signposted from Cloghane village or take the car up to An Fhaiche car park.

Route Description

The route is well marked with coloured posts and arrows painted on rocks.

The beginning takes you past a small grotto which is well worth a look. Following this you climb steadily for a few hundred metres on grassland with great views of Dingle Bay behind.

The route then turns a corner into a steep gully. The path is rocky and runs along the right hand side of the gully with some quite steep drops on the left. The left of the gully features some dramatic cliff faces.

At the end of the gully the route follows a river up through some rocky territory to the bottom of a steep incline. This incline, probably around 200-250m requires some hands and knees scrambling and can be muddy and slippery in winter, loose and powdery in summer.

At the top you find yourself on a ridge. The wind can be blowing quite fiercely from the West here so be careful on reaching the ridge not to be blown backwards. The lesser summit of Coimin na gCnamh is to the north, but following the ridge to the south will take you round in a semi-circle to the main summit.

From here you can go down the way you came, but it is more common to carry on to the third summit of Brandon Peak. This route takes you across a narrow knife-edge ridge which can be quite spectacular but is probably best not tackled when the winds are too high. From Brandon Peak you can continue for a short distance across another summit of Gearhane and then drop down to the Pilgrims Route which will lead you back into Cloghane.

Essential Gear

Good sturdy hiking gear is sufficient. A waterproof coat and leggings are essential as weather conditions can change rapidly.

Ordinance Survey Ireland Discovery Series map number 70 covers this mountain and is advised.

Miscellaneous Info

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Images

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