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.
See also
*
List 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 height ...
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