Beenkeragh or Benkeeragh ()
is the second-highest peak in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
, at , on both the
Arderin
Arderin () is a mountain on the border between Laois and Offaly in Ireland. With a height of 527 metres (1,729 ft) it is the highest point in the Slieve Bloom Mountains, and is the highest point in both County Laois and County Offaly.
An ...
and
Vandeleur-Lynam
The mountains and hills of the British Isles are categorised into various lists based on different combinations of elevation, topographic prominence, prominence, and other criteria such as topographic isolation, isolation. These lists are used f ...
lists. It is part of the
MacGillycuddy's Reeks
, photo=MacGuillycuddy's Reeks.jpg
, photo_caption=
, country=Ireland
, country1=
, location = County Kerry
, region = Munster
, region_type = Provinces of Ireland
, parent=
, border=
, length_km=19
, length_orientation=East–West ...
range in
County Kerry
County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...
. Beenkeragh also gives its name the infamous ''Beenkeragh Ridge'', the narrow rocky
arete
''Arete'' (Greek: ) is a concept in ancient Greek thought that, in its most basic sense, refers to 'excellence' of any kind Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. '' A Greek–English Lexicon'', 9th ed. (Oxford, 1940), s.v.br>—especially a person or thi ...
between Beenkeragh and
Carrauntoohil
Carrauntoohil or Carrauntoohill ( ; ga, Corrán Tuathail , meaning "Tuathal's sickle") is the highest mountain in Ireland at . It is on the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, close to the centre of Ireland's highest mountain range, MacGillycu ...
, Ireland's highest mountain.
Geography
Beenkeragh lies to the north of Carrauntoohil ., and is part of the
MacGillycuddy's Reeks
, photo=MacGuillycuddy's Reeks.jpg
, photo_caption=
, country=Ireland
, country1=
, location = County Kerry
, region = Munster
, region_type = Provinces of Ireland
, parent=
, border=
, length_km=19
, length_orientation=East–West ...
range in
County Kerry
County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...
. Beenkeragh is joined to Carrauntoohil by a very narrow rocky ridge, or
arete
''Arete'' (Greek: ) is a concept in ancient Greek thought that, in its most basic sense, refers to 'excellence' of any kind Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. '' A Greek–English Lexicon'', 9th ed. (Oxford, 1940), s.v.br>—especially a person or thi ...
, known as the ''Beenkeragh Ridge''. In the middle of the ''Beenkeragh Ridge'' is another other summit called,
The Bones () .
Beenkeragh is the
179th-highest mountain in Britain and Ireland on the
Simm
A SIMM (single in-line memory module) is a type of memory module containing random-access memory used in computers from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. It differs from a dual in-line memory module (DIMM), the most predominant form of memo ...
classification.
Beenkeragh is regarded by the
Scottish Mountaineering Club
Established in 1889, the Scottish Mountaineering Club is the leading club for climbing and mountaineering in Scotland.
History
The Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) was formed in 1889 as Scotland’s national club and the initial membership of ...
("SMC") as one of 34
Furths
This is a list of Furth mountains in Britain and Ireland by height. Furths are defined as mountains that meet the classification criteria to be a Scottish Munro, including being over in elevation, but which are ''furth'' of (i.e. "outside" of ...
, which is a mountain above in elevation, and meets the other SMC criteria for a
Munro
A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nev ...
(e.g. "sufficient separation"), but which is outside of (or ''furth'') Scotland; which is why Beenkeragh is sometimes referred to as one of the 13
Irish Munros.
Beenkeragh's prominence qualifies it to meet the
Arderin
Arderin () is a mountain on the border between Laois and Offaly in Ireland. With a height of 527 metres (1,729 ft) it is the highest point in the Slieve Bloom Mountains, and is the highest point in both County Laois and County Offaly.
An ...
classification, and the British Isles
Simm
A SIMM (single in-line memory module) is a type of memory module containing random-access memory used in computers from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. It differs from a dual in-line memory module (DIMM), the most predominant form of memo ...
and
Hewitt classifications.
Beenkeragh does not appear in the
MountainViews Online Database
In these lists of mountains in Ireland, those within Northern Ireland, or on the Republic of Ireland – United Kingdom border, are marked with an asterisk, while the rest are within the Republic of Ireland. Where mountains are ranked by heigh ...
, ''
100 Highest Irish Mountains'', as the prominence threshold is over .
[Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins", Collins Books, Cork, ]
Climbing
The ''Beenkeragh Ridge'' is considered as offering some of Ireland's "most intimidating" hill-walking, and is often climbed as part of the ''
Coomloughra Horseshoe'', described as "one of Ireland's finest ridge-walks". The horseshoe takes in Ireland's three highest mountains, Carrauntoohil, Beenkeragh, and
Caher.
Beenkeragh is also accessed from the south-east via the ''Hag's Glen'' by ascending the
Hag's Tooth , and continuing up the steep and rocky ''
Hag's Tooth Ridge'' to the summit of Beenkeragh. The route gives views into the deep
corrie at the base of Carrauntoohil's north-east face, known as the ''
Eagle's Nest'' area. The ''Eagle's Nest'' corrie consists of three levels, with the top level (or ''third level''), containing Lough Cummeenoughter, Ireland's highest lake.
On summiting Beenkeragh, the route crosses the ''Beenkeragh Ridge'' to Carrauntoohil and descends via the ''
Heavenly Gates'' path across the east-face of Carrauntoohil.
See also
*
Lists of mountains in Ireland
In these lists of mountains in Ireland, those within Northern Ireland, or on the Republic of Ireland – United Kingdom border, are marked with an asterisk, while the rest are within the Republic of Ireland. Where mountains are ranked by heigh ...
*
List of mountains of the British Isles by height
*
List of Furth mountains in the British Isles
References
External links
MountainViews: The Irish Mountain Website Beenkeragh
the largest database of British Isles mountains ("
DoBIH
The mountains and hills of the British Isles are categorised into various lists based on different combinations of elevation, prominence, and other criteria such as isolation. These lists are used for peak bagging, whereby hillwalkers attemp ...
")
Hill Bagging UK & Ireland the searchable interface for the
DoBIH
The mountains and hills of the British Isles are categorised into various lists based on different combinations of elevation, prominence, and other criteria such as isolation. These lists are used for peak bagging, whereby hillwalkers attemp ...
Logainm: Placenames Database of Ireland
{{Mountains and hills of Munster
Mountains and hills of County Kerry
Furths
One-thousanders of the British Isles