Slieve Gallion () is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...

in County Londonderry,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It is the easternmost of the

Sperrin Mountains The Sperrins or Sperrin Mountains () are a range of mountains in Northern Ireland and one of the largest upland areas in Northern Ireland. The range stretches from Strabane eastwards to Slieve Gallion in Desertmartin and north towards Limavad ...

. It reaches a height of and dominates the western shore of Lough Neagh. Its prominent northeastern summit has a

transmitter station A transmitter station or transmission facility is an installation used for transmitting radio frequency signals for wireless communication, broadcasting, microwave link, mobile telephone or other purposes. Choice of location The location may b ...

with a small road leading to it, and stands at a height of . By road, Slieve Gallion is from

Moneymore Moneymore () is a village and townland in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,897 in the 2011 Census. It is situated within Mid-Ulster District. It is an example of a plantation village in Mid-Ulster built by the Dra ...

, from Cookstown, and from

Magherafelt Magherafelt (, �mˠaxəɾʲəˈfʲiːlt̪ˠə is a small town and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,805 at the 2011 Census. It is the biggest town in the south of the county and is the social, econo ...

. The mountain is part of the parishes of

Desertmartin Desertmartin (;Toner, Gregory: ''Place-Names of Northern Ireland'', page 85. Queen's University of Belfast, 1996, )Flanagan, Deirdre & Laurence: ''Irish Place Names'', page 202. Gill & Macmillan Ltd., 2002. is a small village in County Londonde ...

Lissan Lissan () is a civil and Anglican and Roman Catholic ecclesiastical parish that spans parts of County Londonderry and County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The local Roman Catholic church was built in 1908. Sport *Lissan GAC is the local Gaelic At ...

and Ballinascreen.

Nature

Slieve Gallion is a

volcanic plug A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcanic object created when magma hardens within a vent on an active volcano. When present, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of high gas pressure if rising volatile-charged ma ...

. The mountain is formed from volcanic-derived

igneous Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or ...

rock, and also

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

on the southern slopes. It is steep, and has a flat top. There is a

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

mast on the northeastern summit. To the west, the landscape consists of

blanket bog Blanket bog or blanket mire, also known as featherbed bog, is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses o ...

and

coniferous forest Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All exta ...

; most of the trees in the Slieve Gallion area are Sitka spruce. There are also

lodgepole pine ''Pinus contorta'', with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpin ...

trees, as well as

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

towards the south of the area. Animal species living in the area include the

Irish hare The mountain hare (''Lepus timidus''), also known as blue hare, tundra hare, variable hare, white hare, snow hare, alpine hare, and Irish hare, is a Palearctic hare that is largely adapted to polar and mountainous habitats. Evolution The mountai ...

(a sub-species of the

mountain hare The mountain hare (''Lepus timidus''), also known as blue hare, tundra hare, variable hare, white hare, snow hare, alpine hare, and Irish hare, is a Palearctic hare that is largely adapted to polar and mountainous habitats. Evolution The mount ...

), the

curlew The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been in ...

, and the red grouse. The otter can also be found around nearby rivers. Slieve Gallion is classed by the Northern Ireland Planning Service as an area of "High Scenic Value".

History

Peat formed at Slieve Gallion in the early

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

period, around 10,000 years ago. The radiocarbon dating of pollen has shown that there were plants in the area 10,000 years ago. 7,000 ago, the number of

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

trees steeply increased. From the Middle Ages until the 20th century, gatherings were held on the mountain to mark the festival of

Lughnasadh Lughnasadh or Lughnasa ( , ) is a 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 in gv, ...

. In recent decades, there has been an increase in the number of

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

grazing in the area, as well as an increase in mountain biking and

hill walking Walking is one of the most popular outdoor recreational activities in the United Kingdom, and within England and Wales there is a comprehensive network of rights of way that permits access to the countryside. Furthermore, access to much uncultiv ...

, contributing to

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...

Sport

There was formerly a challenge walk/run from the village of

to the summit of Slieve Gallon, which took participants through idyllic countryside such as Cairndaisy glen and the Postmans Way. There is now a yearly mountain race from the foot of Inniscarn Forest to the mountaintop and back, which normally takes place on the last Saturday of September or the first Saturday of October. Organised under the Northern Ireland Mountain Running Association, this event attracts some of Northern Ireland's top athletes and hosted the British & Ireland Junior Mountain Running Championships in October 2006. The sports of

hang gliding Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...

and

paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like 'p ...

use Slieve Gallion. This site is considered a good starting point to go cross-country as there is little in the way of airspace restrictions in a downwind direction from its predominate flyable faces.

Other

In 2019 a wind farm was constructed on its eastern side known as Crockandun wind farm. Australian Gold firm Walkabout resources could collaborate with Koza UK to start a gold mine on the mountain. As of August 2020 the joint venture only holds a prospecting license and has not submitted plans for a gold mine. The project has been rejected by the district council of Mid Ulster.

References

{{Geology of Northern Ireland Mountains and hills of County Londonderry Marilyns of Northern Ireland Volcanic plugs of Northern Ireland

Nature

History

Sport

Other

See also

References