Derryclare

The name "Derryclare" comes from Irish Doire Chláir; doire means "an oak wood", and clár can mean either a "plain" or a "board/plank-bridge". Irish academic Paul Tempan says Ordnance Survey Ireland most likely transferred the name from the nearby townland of Derryclare, east of the mountain.[2] The full Irish name of the mountain itself is Binn Doire Chláir, meaning "peak of the oak wood at the plain or plank-bridge"; such a translation would be consistent with the easterly slopes of Derryclare, where Derryclare Wood is bounded by Derryclare Lough and Lough Inagh.[7][9]

On the mountain's southern shoulder is a rocky outcrop called Bennaderreen, from Binn an Doirín, "peak of the little oak wood".[10]

Derryclare is one of the most southerly of the Bens and sits at the eastern side of the entrance to the large U-shaped valley of the Glencoaghan River. To the south of Derrclare is the scenic lake of Derryclare Lough, and to the east is the large Inagh Valley, and Lough Inagh.[6]

Derryclare's only neighbour is Bencorr 711 metres (2,333 ft), the 2nd-highest peak in the Twelve Bens range, to which it is connected by a high northern rocky ridge. Derryclare and Bencorr form a large deep eastern corrie called Irish: Log an Choire Mhóir (meaning "wood of the big corrie").[11]

The corrie leads down to the Derryclare Wood, which includes a 19-hectare broadleaf forest that is a Statutory Nature Reserve (SRN), and a 789-hectare commercial conifer forest owned and operated by Coillte; both of which are bounded by Derryclare Lough and Lough Inagh.[7][12]

In 1980, the Irish state designated 19-hectares of woodland on the eastern slopes of Derryclare as a Statutory Nature Reserve called the Derryclare Nature Reserve (or Derryclare Wood by some sources).[9][13] The broadleaf trees in the reserve are composed of Sessile Oak, with Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia), Downy Birch (Betula pubescens) and some Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) creating a canopy layer; there are well-developed lichen and fungus flora present. The fungal parasite, Hemigrapha astericus, a native of Australia and South America, was first recorded in the northern hemisphere in Derryclare Wood.[7][9]

In 2005, 19 Irish red squirrels were translocated from Portumna Forest Park to Derryclare Wood as part of a programme to protect the species in Ireland.[12][14]

Derryclare is one of the more accessible Twelve Bens, being situated near the N59 road, and a number of routes are available from the Glencoaghan Valley side in the west, or the Derryclare Nature Reserve side in the east, that climb to the summit and back.[15]

Derryclare can be climbed in "horseshoe" walks such as the 11–14 kilometre 5–7 hour circuit of Bencorr (descending via Bencorr's easterly spur at the northern end of Irish: Log an Choire Mhóir), and/or Bencorr North Top (descending via Carrot Ridge, at the northern end of Irish: Log an Choire Bhig).[11]

Derryclare is also often climbed as part of the popular 16–kilometre 8–9 hour Glencoaghan Horseshoe, considered one of Ireland's best hill-walks.[16][17][18]

The large easterly corrie between the summit of Derryclare and the summit of Bencorr, Irish: Log an Choire Mhóir (meaning "wood of the big corrie"), contains several large 200 metre multi-pitch graded rock climbs of grades Diff (D) to Very Diff (VD), the most notable of which is The Knave (VD, 225 m).[19]

• 
  Summit of Derryclare from south-ridge
• 
  Bencorr (center) and Derryclare (right), from Bencollaghduff
• 
  Derryclare (left), Bencorr (centre), Bencorr North Top (right); Benbaun is far right
• 
  Derryclare (left), Bencorr (centre), and Bencorr North Top (right); with the corries of Log an Choire Mhóir (left) and Log an Choire Bhig (right)
• 
  Looking south to the summit of Derryclare from its northern-ridge with Bencorr

• Fairbairn, Helen (2014). Ireland's Best Walks: A Walking Guide. Collins Press. ISBN 978-1848892118.
• MountainViews Online Database (Simon Stewart) (2013). A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins. Collins Books. ISBN 978-1-84889-164-7.
• Paul Phelan (2011). Connemara & Mayo - A Walking Guide: Mountain, Coastal & Island Walks. Collins Press. ISBN 978-1848891029.
• Dillion, Paddy (2001). Connemara: Collins Rambler's guide. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0002201216.
• Dillion, Paddy (1993). The Mountains of Ireland: A Guide to Walking the Summits. Cicerone. ISBN 978-1852841102.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Derryclare.

• Twelve Bens
• Mweelrea, major range in Killary Harbour
• Maumturks, major range in Connemara
• Lists of mountains in Ireland
• Lists of mountains and hills in the British Isles
• List of Marilyns in the British Isles
• List of Hewitt mountains in England, Wales and Ireland

• MountainViews: The Irish Mountain Website, Bencollaghduff
• MountainViews: Irish Online Mountain Database
• The Database of British and Irish Hills , the largest database of British Isles mountains ("DoBIH")
• Hill Bagging UK & Ireland, the searchable interface for the DoBIH