Kippure () at , is the 56th-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 ...

scale, and the 72nd-highest peak on the Vandeleur-Lynam scale.Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins", Collins Books, Cork, Kippure is situated in the far northern sector 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 ...

, where it lies on the border of the counties of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it has ...

in Ireland. Kippure is the

County Top 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 ...

for Dublin, and its height and positioning over Dublin city have made its summit an important site for transmission masts, which are highly visible from a distance. Kippure's slopes feed into the

Liffey Head Bog Tonduff () at , is the 169th–highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale, and the 202nd–highest peak on the Vandeleur-Lynam scale.Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderin ...

which forms the source of the

River Liffey The River Liffey (Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the River ...

. The summit can be easily accessed from the east via a path that lies off the R115 (also called the "Military Road") road along the route to the

Sally Gap The R759 road is a regional road in Ireland running south-east to north-west through the Sally Gap in the Wicklow Mountains, from the R755 near Roundwood in East Wicklow to the N81 in West Wicklow. The other route through the Wicklow Mounta ...

Naming

According to Irish academic Paul Tempan, "Kippure" is simply a "

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

of a pronunciation collected locally, but without any clear meaning". Tempan notes that it resembles the Irish language term "ciop" (meaning stump) and "iúr" (meaning yew), however "stump of the yew" would be "Ciop Iúir". While it is unlikely that yew trees could have ever grown on an exposed mountain such as Kippure, Tempan notes that there is a connection with a similar name in the lower valley, where the association with yew trees could have come.

Geography

Kippure's large

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

sits at the head of two major valleys: the valley of

Glencree Glencree ( ga, Gleann Crí from the older Gleann Criothach, which translates as Valley of the Shaking Bog) is a valley in the Wicklow Mountains in eastern Ireland. It is the third-closest valley in the mountains to Dublin city, the first being G ...

(part of Wicklow) to the east, which it forms with

Tonduff Tonduff () at , is the 169th–highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale, and the 202nd–highest peak on the Vandeleur-Lynam scale.Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins" ...

Maulin Maulin (), at , is the 272nd–highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale, however, being below 600 m it does not rank on the Vandeleur-Lynam or Hewitt scales.Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Va ...

, and Prince William's Seat ; and the valley of

Glenasmole Glenasmole ( ga, Gleann an Smóil) is a valley in the Dublin Mountains in the south of County Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The valley itself is around in elevation and is surrounded by mountains exceeding in elevation. Kippure, at , is ...

(part of Dublin) to the north, which is forms with

Seefingan Seefingan often spelt Seafingan ( meaning ''Fingan's Seat'') is a mountain that straddles two county boundaries from its summit in County Wicklow, Wicklow eastwards down into South Dublin, in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. There are extensive vi ...

, and Corrig Mountain . To the south of Kippure is the high mountain pass of the

at , and the long winding "central spine" of the Wicklow mountains as the range runs to

Mullaghcleevaun Mullaghcleevaun () at , is the 15th–highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale, and the 20th–highest peak on the Vandeleur-Lynam scale.Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Ar ...

, and then on to

Tonelagee Tonelagee () at , is the 25th–highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale, and the 33rd–highest peak on the Vandeleur-Lynam scale.Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins ...

, and finally to the terminus at

Lugnaquilla LugnaquillaLugnaquilla
.

Kippure has two corrie lakes on its north-east flank, Lough Bray Upper and Lough Bray Lower. The slopes of Kippure hold the sources of several rivers, including tributaries that feed the

from the Liffey Head Bog on the western slopes of

, and tributaries that feed the

River Dodder The River Dodder ( ga, An Dothra) is one of the three main rivers in Dublin, Ireland, the others being the Liffey, of which the Dodder is the largest tributary, and the Tolka. Course and system The Dodder rises on the northern slopes of Ki ...

. Kippure's

prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

of qualifies it as a Marilyn, and it also ranks it as the 32nd-highest mountain in Ireland on 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'', where the minimum prominence threshold is 100 metres (328').Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins", Collins Books, Cork,

Transmission site

At the summit of Kippure stands a 127m (417') television and radio transmitter mast. This is the oldest television transmission site in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

and was initially selected as a potential VHF FM radio transmitter site during the course of a

Radio Éireann Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

survey in the mid-1950s. The Irish Board of Works built an access road to the site in 1959, and the transmitter installation work was then started by the British company

Pye Ltd. Pye Ltd was an electronics company founded in 1896 in Cambridge, England, as a manufacturer of scientific instruments. The company merged with EKCO in 1960. Philips of the Netherlands acquired a majority shareholding in 1967, and later gained f ...

By the summer of 1961 the mast was erected and test transmissions followed, consisting of slide views of Ireland, a test-card, and the music of Count John McCormack. Telefís Éireann began with transmission from Kippure on 31 December 1961 using the British

405-line The 405-line monochrome analogue television broadcasting system was the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting. The number of television lines influences the image resolution, or quality of the picture. It was ...

TV standard on VHF

Band III Band III is the name of the range of radio frequencies within the very high frequency (VHF) part of the electromagnetic spectrum from 174 to 240 megahertz (MHz). It is primarily used for radio and television broadcasting. It is also called high-b ...

channel 7, to be followed by a

625-line 625-lines is a standard-definition television resolution used mainly in the context of analog systems. It was first demonstrated by Mark Iosifovich Krivosheev in 1948. Analog broadcast television standards The following International Telecommunic ...

service on channel H in the summer of 1962. Kippure was the first of the original five main Telefís Éireann transmitters to come into service, the others being, Truskmore (1962),

Mount Leinster Mount Leinster ( ga, Stua Laighean) is a mountain in the Republic of Ireland. It straddles the border between Counties Carlow and Wexford, in the province of Leinster. It is the fifth-highest mountain in Leinster after Lugnaquilla , Mullaghclee ...

(1963),

Maghera Maghera (pronounced , ) is a small town at the foot of the Glenshane Pass in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Its population was 4,220 in the 2011 Census, increasing from 3,711 in the 2001 Census. It is situated within Mid-Ulster Distric ...

(1963), and

Mullaghanish Mullaghanish ( ga, Mullach an Ois) is a 649 m high mountain in the Derrynasaggart range, located just northeast of Ballyvourney in County Cork, Ireland. Transmission site This site is home to one of Telefís Éireann's original five main tel ...

(1963).

RTE Kippure Transmitting Station Entrance Gate - geograph

VHF FM transmission of

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

Radio (the former Radio Éireann) commenced in 1966, with stereo broadcasting beginning in 1969. 405-line transmission from Kippure ceased in 1978 with the arrival of

RTÉ 2 (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, whil ...

, however, Kippure did not transmit RTÉ 2 until much later. Initially on Channel J at low power later moving to Channel H with

RTÉ 1 (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

moving to Channel E. Kippure's importance in radio and television transmission has diminished since the late 1970s with the opening of three new

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...

transmitter sites at

Three Rock Three Rock Mountain (; archaic: ''Sliabh Ruadh'') is a mountain in Co Dublin, Ireland. It is high and forms part of the group of hills in the Dublin Mountains which comprises Two Rock, Three Rock, Kilmashogue and Tibradden Mountains. The mo ...

in County Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown,

Clermont Carn Clermont Carn (), also known as Black Mountain, is a mountain that rises to in the Cooley Mountains of County Louth, Ireland. It is at the border with Northern Ireland, and is also the location of the Clermont Carn transmission site. The moun ...

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...

, and Cairn Hill in

County Longford County Longford ( gle, Contae an Longfoirt) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county was 46,6 ...

, which provide better reception in most areas previously served only by Kippure. Today the Irish DTT service,

Saorview Saorview ( ) is the national digital terrestrial television (DTT) service in Ireland. It is owned by RTÉ and operated by 2RN. The service began operation on 29 October 2010 on a trial basis with a full launch on 26 May 2011. By legislation i ...

, the national FM radio stations, and some commercial radio stations are broadcast from the site.

Current transmissions

Terrestrial television

Digital Radio (closed 2021)

Analogue FM radio

Kippure TV
relay transmitter A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

Bibliography

* * * *

Gallery

File:Upper and Lower Lough Bray.jpg, Lough Bray Lower and Upper File:IMG Kippure0232w.jpg, From the

File:The Young Liffey - geograph.org.uk - 464192.jpg,

tributary File:View east rom Kippure.jpg, View east from the summit File:War Hill - geograph.org.uk - 523813.jpg, Killpure and

War Hill War Hill () at , is the 106th–highest peak in Ireland on the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Arderins, Arderin scale, and the 129th–highest peak on the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Vandeleur-Lynams, Vandeleur-Lynam scale.Mountainviews, (Sept ...

from

Djouce Djouce () at , is the 74th–highest peak in Ireland on the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Arderins, Arderin scale, and the 91st–highest peak on the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Vandeleur-Lynams, Vandeleur-Lynam scale.Mountainviews, (September ...

References

External links

MountainViews: The Irish Mountain Website
Kippure

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

{{IrishTrails Marilyns of Ireland Mountains and hills of County Wicklow Hewitts of Ireland Mountains under 1000 metres Mountains and hills of South Dublin (county) Highest points of Irish counties Transmitter sites in Ireland