Cruach Mhór

Cruach Mhór (Irish for "big stack"),[2] at 932 metres (3,058 ft) high, is the tenth-highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin list, and the eleventh-highest peak in Ireland according to the Vandeleur-Lynam list. A distinctive square grotto marks the summit. It is part of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks in County Kerry.

This article is about the mountain in Ireland. For the mountain in Scotland, see Cruach Mhor (Argyll and Bute).

Cruach Mhór
Cruach Mhór (left), and The Big Gun (right), as seen from the summit of Cnoc na Péiste
Highest point
Elevation932 m (3,058 ft)[1]
Prominence34 m (112 ft)[1]
ListingFurth, Hewitt, Arderin, Simm, Vandeleur-Lynam
Coordinates51°59′09″N 9°39′41″W
Geography
Cruach Mhór is located in island of Ireland
Cruach Mhór
Cruach Mhór
Ireland
LocationCounty Kerry, Republic of Ireland
Parent rangeMacGillycuddy's Reeks
OSI/OSNI gridV840848
Topo mapOSI Discovery 78
Geology
Mountain typeWell-bedded grey sandstone Bedrock

Geography

Cruach Mhór is at the far eastern section of MacGillycuddy's Reeks in County Kerry, 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 in the Gap of Dunloe.[3] The ridge between Cruach Mhór and Cnoc na Péiste 988 metres (3,241 ft), is marked by The Big Gun 939 metres (3,081 ft) at its centre, and is considered as offering some of the most exposed and serious hill walking in Ireland (equivalent to The Bones on the nearby Beenkeragh Ridge).[4] The Macgillycuddy's Reeks Ridge Walk continues along this ridge to Maolán Buí 973 metres (3,192 ft) and on to Carrauntoohil, Ireland's highest mountain.[5]

Grotto at the top of Cruach Mhor, built by a local farmer who hauled the materials up by hand

Just over 3 km to the east-northeast of Cruach Mhór, across a sharp notch, is the lesser peak of Cnoc an Bhráca 731 metres (2,398 ft). There is a lower peak to the east of Cruach Mhór known as Cruach Bheag ("little stack").[2][5]

On the summit of Cruach Mhór is a stone grotto 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.[6]

Cruach Mhór is the 401st-highest mountain in Britain and Ireland on the Simm classification.[7] It is listed by the Scottish Mountaineering Club ("SMC") as one of 34 Furths, which is a mountain above 3,000 ft (914 m) in elevation, and meets the other SMC criteria for a Munro (e.g. "sufficient separation"), but which is outside of (or furth) Scotland;[8] which is why Cruach Mhór is sometimes referred to as one of the 13 Irish Munros.[9]

Ridge from Cnoc na Peiste, to The Big Gun (r), and on to Cruach Mhor (l), whose grotto is visible at its summit.

Cruach Mhór's prominence qualifies it to meet the Arderin classification, and the British Isles Simm and Hewitt classifications.[7] Cruach Mhór does not appear in the MountainViews Online Database, 100 Highest Irish Mountains, as the prominence threshold is over 100 m (328 ft).[10]

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cruach Mhór.

References
  1. Cruach Mhór at mountainviews.ie. Accessed on 6 Feb 2013.
  2. Paul Tempan (February 2012). "Irish Hill and Mountain Names" (PDF). MountainViews.ie.
  3. Con Moriarty (2018). "The Ridge of the Reeks". Hidden Ireland Tours. Simply, the finest mountain traverse in Ireland with 7 summits over 3000 ft. From Kate Kearney's Cottage, in the Gap of Dunloe, to Doire na Féinne and Loch a' Chúis
  4. John O'Dwyer (6 June 2015). "Walks: The Big Gun is a blast on the Reeks Ridge, Co Kerry". Irish Times. Intimidating looking pinnacles now bar the way to the Big Gun, but generally the handholds are sound and surprisingly quickly you will be standing on the tiny summit. Regarded as the most difficult to reach of Ireland's major mountaintops, it offers the comforting thought that the crux of the route is now behind.
  5. Ryan, Jim (2006). Carrauntoohil and MacGillycuddy's Reeks: A Walking Guide to Ireland's Highest Mountains. Collins Press. ISBN 978-1905172337.
  6. John Finn (22 August 2004). "Cruach Mhor". MountainViews Online Database. The grotto on Cruach Mhor. This was built by a local farmer who dragged the cement, sand and water up from his home in the valley on his back! An act of devotion or madness? Madness actually as I was told the poor man ended up in St Brendan's lunatic asylum in Killarney. The statue is usually shattered by winter weather but someone still replaces it with a new one every year.
  7. Chris Cocker; Graham Jackson (2018). "The Database of British and Irish Hills". Database of British and Irish Hills.
  8. Mountains – Key Facts. The Munros, Corbetts, Grahams, Donalds & Furths Archived 2012-12-04 at the Wayback Machine at www.smc.org.uk. Accessed on 5 Feb 2013.
  9. "Hill Lists: Furths". Scottish Mountaineering Club. The list of peaks of 3000ft or more within the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland outside (furth) of Scotland. There are currently 34 Furths.
  10. Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins", Collins Books, Cork, ISBN 978-1-84889-164-7
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