Church Mountain, also called Slieve Gad (), is the westernmost of the

Wicklow Mountains The Wicklow Mountains (, archaic: ''Cualu'') form the largest continuous upland area in the Republic of Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into the counties of Dublin, Wexford and Carlow. Wh ...

in Ireland. It is high. At the summit are the remains of a large ancient cairn of pagan origin. This cairn was partially destroyed and a small building, apparently a church, was built on it in the Middle Ages. Pilgrims formerly climbed the mountain during the festival of

Lughnasa Lughnasadh or Lughnasa ( , ) is a Gaels, Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. In Modern Irish it is called , in gd, Lùnastal, and i ...

to visit a

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its gua ...

on the summit. The mountain lies roughly halfway between

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

to the north and

Donard Donard (historically ''Dunard'', from ) is a small village in County Wicklow, Ireland, located at the northern end of the Glen of Imaal, in the western part of the Wicklow Mountains. Donard takes its name from Dún Ard - High Fort - the ru ...

to the south.

References

Mountains and hills of County Wicklow {{Mountains and hills of Leinster There is another Church Mountain in Whatcom County, Washington State, USA. It lies in the extreme northwest section of the

Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

north of Mount Baker. The national forest link to the trail on this Church Mountain is http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gjAwhwtDDw9_AI8zPwhQoY6BdkOyoCAPkATlA!/?ss=110605&navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&cid=FSE_003853&navid=091000000000000&pnavid=null&position=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&ttype=main&pname=Mt.%20Baker-Snoqualmie%20National%20Forest-%20Home

See also

References