Keeper Hill or Slievekimalta ()Slievekimalta or Keeper Hill

Placenames Database of Ireland The Placenames Database of Ireland ( ga, Bunachar Logainmneacha na hÉireann), also known as , is a database and archive of place names in Ireland. It was created by Fiontar, Dublin City University in collaboration with the Placenames Branch of t ...

. is a mountain with a height of Keeper Hill
MountainViews.ie. in the

Silvermine Mountains The Silvermine Mountains or Silvermines Mountains ( ga, Sliabh an Airgid) are a mountain range in County Tipperary, Ireland. The highest peak of the range is Keeper Hill or Slievekimalta at high. Traditionally, the mountains were deemed to be ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

, Ireland. Traditionally, it was deemed to be part of the

Slieve Felim Mountains The Slieve Felim Mountains ( ga, Sliabh Eibhlinne) are a mountain range in Munster, Ireland. They cover parts of County Limerick and County Tipperary. Historically, the name "Slieve Felim" meant the whole mountainous area between Murroe, Silvermi ...

.Tempan, Paul (2006)
"Two Mountain Names: Slieve Felim and Mauherslieve"
''North Munster Antiquarian Journal'', volume 6. pp.120-122

Name

Keeper Hill, also known as Slievekimalta, gets its name from a little-known tale about Sadb, daughter of

Conn of the Hundred Battles Conn Cétchathach (; "of the Hundred Battles"), son of Fedlimid Rechtmar, was a semi-legendary High King of Ireland and the ancestor of the Connachta, and, through his descendant Niall Noígiallach, the Uí Néill dynasties, which dominated Irela ...

, raising her children Eogan and Indderb on this mountain after they had been rejected by their father Ailill Aulom, king of Munster.

Geography

The mountain is about 15 km east of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

City. Keeper Hill is the highest mountain in the Silvermines (and the wider Shannon area) and the 58th highest in Ireland. There is a

stone circle A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The be ...

in Bauraglanna townland on the northeastern slopes, known as Firbrega ('false men').

Access to the summit

There is a looped walk around the lower shoulders of Keeper Hill, to which the ‘hardy’ walker can add the ‘trek’ to the summit. This loop walk is part of the National Looped Walks and is marked using the standard purple National Looped Walk directional arrows. Historically, a Lughnasadh gathering was held on the summit each August.

Conservation

On the slopes of Keeper Hill is a woodland of 3,300 hectares, mostly of non-native conifers. The 300 hectare summit is blanket bog and

Nardus ''Nardus'' is a genus of plants belonging to the grass family, containing the single species ''Nardus stricta'', known as matgrass. It is placed in its own tribe Nardeae within the subfamily Pooideae. The name derives from ancient Greek ' () fro ...

grassland, considered of ecological importance. Keeper Hill is designated a Special Area of Conservation.Keeper Hill SAC
National Parks and Wildlife Service

References

External links

* {{Mountains and hills of Munster Marilyns of Ireland Mountains and hills of County Tipperary Mountains under 1000 metres Special Areas of Conservation in the Republic of Ireland