Cruach Mhór (

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

for "big stack"), at high, is the tenth-highest peak in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on 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 ...

list, and the eleventh-highest peak in Ireland according to the Vandeleur-Lynam list. A distinctive square ''

grotto A grotto is a natural or artificial cave used by humans in both modern times and antiquity, and historically or prehistorically. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high ti ...

'' marks the summit. 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 ...

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 ...

Geography

Cruach Mhór is at the far eastern section of

, Ireland's highest mountain range. It is the first major peak in the '' MacGillycuddy's Reeks Ridge Walk'' when started from ''

Kate Kearney's Cottage The Gap of Dunloe (), also recorded as ''Bearna an Choimín'' (meaning "gap of the commonage" or "gap of the little hollow"), is a narrow mountain pass running north-south in County Kerry, Ireland, that separates the MacGillycuddy's Reeks mounta ...

'' in the

Gap of Dunloe The Gap of Dunloe (), also recorded as ''Bearna an Choimín'' (meaning "gap of the commonage" or "gap of the little hollow"), is a narrow mountain pass running north-south in County Kerry, Ireland, that separates the MacGillycuddy's Reeks mounta ...

. The ridge between Cruach Mhór and Cnoc na Péiste , is marked by The Big Gun at its centre, and is considered as offering some of the most exposed and serious hill walking in Ireland (equivalent to

The Bones The Bones (), at high, is the seventh-highest peak in Ireland on the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Arderins, Arderin list, or the eighth-highest according to the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Vandeleur-Lynams, Vandeleur-Lynam list. It is part ...

on the nearby ''

Beenkeragh Ridge Beenkeragh or Benkeeragh () is the second-highest peak in Ireland, at , on both the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Arderins, Arderin and Lists of mountains in Ireland#Vandeleur-Lynams, Vandeleur-Lynam lists. It is part of the MacGillycuddy's Ree ...

''). The Macgillycuddy's Reeks Ridge Walk continues along this ridge to

Maolán Buí Maolán Buí (Irish for "yellow/golden round knoll"), also known by the name Bearna Rua, at high, is the fifth-highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin list, or the sixth-highest peak in Ireland according to the Vandeleur-Lynam list. Maolán ...

and on to

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, MacGillycud ...

, Ireland's highest mountain. Grotto of Cruach Mhor

Just over 3 km to the east-northeast of Cruach Mhór, across a sharp notch, is the lesser peak of Cnoc an Bhráca . There is a lower peak to the east of Cruach Mhór known as Cruach Bheag ("little stack"). On the summit of Cruach Mhór is a stone

built by a local farmer who hauled up the cement on his back, and its small statue is changed every year. The square structure, which sits on the exact summit, is visible from a distance. Cruach Mhór is the 401st-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 memory ...

classification. It is listed 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. Lists of mountains and hills in the British Isles#Furths, Furths are defined as mountains that meet the Lists of mountains and hills in the British Isles#Munros, classification ...

, 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 Nevis ...

(e.g. "sufficient separation"), but which is outside of (or ''furth'') Scotland; which is why Cruach Mhór is sometimes referred to as one of the 13

Irish Munro This is a list of Furth mountains in Britain and Ireland by height. Lists of mountains and hills in the British Isles#Furths, Furths are defined as mountains that meet the Lists of mountains and hills in the British Isles#Munros, classification ...

Cruach Mhor and The Big Gun from Cnoc na Peiste Ridge (MacGillycuddy's Reeks)

Cruach Mhór's prominence qualifies it to meet the

classification, and the British Isles

and Hewitt classifications. Cruach Mhór 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 height ...

, '' 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,

References

External links

MountainViews: The Irish Mountain Website
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 attempt ...

")
Hill Bagging UK & Ireland
the searchable interface for the

Ordnance Survey Ireland ("OSI") Online Map ViewerLogainm: Placenames Database of Ireland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruach Mhor Mountains and hills of County Kerry Furths Mountains under 1000 metres

Geography

See also

References

External links