Slievenamuck

Galtymore or Galteemore () is a mountain in the province of Munster, Ireland. At , it is one of Ireland's highest mountains, being the 12th-highest on the Arderin list, and 14th-highest on the Vandeleur-Lynam list. Galtymore has the 4th-highest topographic prominence of any peak in Ireland, which classifies Galtymore as a P600, or "major mountain". It is one of the 13 Irish Munros.

Galtymore is the highest of the Galty Mountains, or Galtee Mountains, a sandstone and shale mountain range with 24 peaks above , which runs east-west for between counties Tipperary and Limerick; Galtymore is the highest point of both counties. The mountain is accessed by hillwalkers via the 3–4 hour ''Black Road Route'', but is also summited as part of the longer 5–6 hour ''Circuit of Glencushnabinnia'', and the at least 10–hour east-to-west crossing of the entire range, called the ''Galtee Crossing'', which is climbed annually in the ''Galtee Challenge''.

The mountain and its deep corrie lakes are associated with various Irish folklore tales regarding Saint Patrick and serpents.

Naming

Irish academic Paul Tempan in his ''Irish Hill and Mountain Names Database'' (2010), listed "Galtymore" as the name for the peak, and "Galty Mountains" as the name for the range. This is anglicised from . "Galtymore" is recorded as early as the ''Civil Survey of Co. Tipperary'' (Down Survey, 1654–56) as a boundary feature of the barony of Clanwilliam. The peak is named "Galtymore Mountain" on the Ordnance Survey Ireland Discovery Map. The townland on its southern slopes is named Knocknagalty (''Cnoc na nGaibhlte'').

Some guidebooks and other publications suggest that the name "Galty" or "Galtees" is an anglicisation of ''Sléibhte na gCoillte'' (mountains of the forests). The 19th century diarist Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin recorded a different Irish name, ''Beann na nGaillti'', and the names of three nearby places are derived from this: Glencoshnabinnia ( P. W. Joyce, Irish Names of Places iii, 366), Slievecoshnabinnia and Carrignabinnia.

The range was historically named ''Sliabh gCrot'' (the hump mountains), anglicised as "Slievegrot"; or ''Crotta Cliach'' (the humps of Cliú), after the territory of Cliú.

The summit of Galtymore is marked as ''Dawson's Table'', named after the Dawson-Massey family who were large landowners in the area (''Tipperary Directory'' 1889), owning much of the land on and around the north section of the Galty range.

The area also originated Kerry Group's popular bacon food brand ''Galtee''; and the term ''Galtee Mountains'' is still in common use.

Geology

The geology of the Galty Mountains is described as being Old Red Sandstone, from the Devonian period, and Silurian shales. Old Red Sandstone is also common in the MacGillycuddy's Reeks mountain range, and as well as having a purple–reddish colour, is also devoid of fossils.

The southern smooth slopes of the Galty range give way to a steep northern face, pocked with deep corries and their accompanying moraine lakes. The long central ridge of the Galtys, which runs for about in an east-west direction, was too high to be overridden by the inland ice-sheets, and although it resulted in the creation of small corrie glaciers, its summits are capped by tors formed from conglomerate rock (known as the Slievenamuck Conglomerate Formation).

Geography

The climbing guidebook writer Paddy Dillion said of the range: "the lofty Galty Mountains have forested flanks; and there is much heather, bogs, and steep slopes, but the effort is worth it and Galtymore is a splendid viewpoint".

The Galty (or "Galtee") Mountains are a broadly straight east-west grass-covered range with a central ridge section, stretching from Greenane in the east, to Temple Hill in the west. This central ridge section includes the highest peaks of Galtymore , Lyracappul , Carrignabinnia , and Slievecushnabinnia . Many of the peaks of the central section have a moderate topographical prominence, which means that the central ridge maintains a reasonably sustained height; an attractive feature for hill walkers.

The 24 peaks of the Galty range with a height above , and include 13 peaks with a height above , and five that are classified as Marilyns – being peaks with a prominence above . The Galtys are described as Ireland's highest "inland" range.

Galtymore and Galtybeg sit near the middle of the range and their north faces show evidence of glacial erosion with a number of deep corries, most of which are now occupied by loughs. Between Galtymore and Galtybeg lies Lough Diheen, while Lough Curra lies between Galtymore and Slievecushnabinnia.

Galtymore is the 460th-highest mountain, and 12th most prominent mountain, in Britain and Ireland, on the Simms classification. Galtymore is regarded by the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) as one of 34 Furths, which is a mountain above in elevation, and meeting the other SMC criteria for a Munro (e.g. "sufficient separation"), and which are outside (or ''furth''), of Scotland; this is why Carrauntoohil is also referred to as one of the thirteen Irish Munros. Galtymore's prominence qualifies it as a P600, which classes Galtymore as a "major" mountain in Britain and Ireland. Galtymore ranks as the 5th-highest mountain in Ireland on the MountainViews Online Database, '' 100 Highest Irish Mountains'', where the prominence threshold is .

Hill walking

The most straightforward route to the summit of Galtymore is from the south via the 3–4 hour ''Black Road Route'', which starts at the end of the Black Road car park () (accessed from the R639 road near the village of Skeheenarinky), and summits Galtybeg , before the main summit of Galtymore. It then retraces its route back to the Black Road car park.

The 5–6 hour ''Circuit of Glencushnabinnia'', which follows a loop around Galtymore's deep northern corries at Lough Curra and Lough Dihneen, is described as the "connoisseur's route". It starts at the forest car park () near the Clydagh Bridge in the north, and climbs Cush , Galtybeg , Galtymore and Slievecushnabinnia , before returning to the start (it can also be done anti–clockwise).

The annual ''Galtee Challenge'' organised by the Galtee Walking Club is the full , over 10-hour, east-to-west crossing of the range (also called the ''Galtee Crossing''), and takes in all major peaks of the Galty Mountains. The challenge normally starts in Cahir in the east, and finishes in Anglesboro Village, in the west. Despite the distance, longer than the MacGillycuddy's Reeks Ridge Walk, the 10–hour estimate is reasonable as the variation in elevation is moderate.

List of peaks

The MountainViews Online Database list 24 Galty mountain peaks with an elevation, or height, above .

Summit

Galtymore's summit is described a large concave plateau separated by two peaks. The plateau consists of Old Red Sandstone and is known as ''Dawson's Table'' after the historical landowners, the Dawson-Massey family. This is similar to '' Percy's Table'' on the summit of Lugnaquilla