Galtymore or Galteemore (Irish: Cnoc Mór na nGaibhlte, meaning "big hill of the Galtees") is a mountain in the province of Munster, Ireland. At 917.9 metres (3,011 ft 6 in), 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 100 metres (330 ft), which runs east-west for thirty kilometres (20 mi) 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.[4] This is anglicised from Irish: Cnoc Mór na nGaibhlte, meaning "big hill of the Galtees". "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.[4] The peak is named "Galtymore Mountain" on the Ordnance Survey Ireland Discovery Map.[4][5] The townland on its southern slopes is named Knocknagalty (Cnoc na nGaibhlte).[6]
Some guidebooks[3] and other publications[7][8] 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.[4]
The range was historically named Sliabh gCrot (the hump mountains), anglicised as "Slievegrot";[9] or Crotta Cliach (the humps of Cliú), after the territory of Cliú.[10][11]
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.[a]
The area also originated Kerry Group's popular bacon food brand Galtee;[14] and the term Galtee Mountains is still in common use.[15]
The southern smooth slopes of the Galty range give way to a steep northern face, pocked with deep corries and their accompanying moraine lakes.[16] The long central ridge of the Galtys, which runs for about 15 kilometres (9 mi) 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).[16]
Geography
Galtymore's eastern summit ridge (centre), and northern cliffs (right)
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".[3]
The Galty (or "Galtee") Mountains are a broadly straight 30-kilometre (20 mi) east-west grass-covered range with a 15-kilometre (9 mi) central ridge section, stretching from Greenane 801 metres (2,628 ft) in the east, to Temple Hill 783 metres (2,569 ft) in the west. This central ridge section includes the highest peaks of Galtymore 918 metres (3,012 ft), Lyracappul 825 metres (2,707 ft), Carrignabinnia 823 metres (2,700 ft), and Slievecushnabinnia 775 metres (2,543 ft). 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.[3]
The 24 peaks of the Galty range with a height above 100 metres (330 ft), and include 13 peaks with a height above 610 metres (2,000 ft), and five that are classified as Marilyns – being peaks with a prominence above 150 metres (490 ft).[17] The Galtys are described as Ireland's highest "inland" range.[17]
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.[3]
Galtymore is the 460th-highest mountain, and 12th most prominent mountain, in Britain and Ireland, on the Simms classification.[18] Galtymore is regarded by the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) as one of 34 Furths, which is a mountain above 3,000 ft (914.4 m) in elevation, and meeting the other SMC criteria for a Munro (e.g. "sufficient separation"), and which are outside (or furth), of Scotland;[19] this is why Carrauntoohil is also referred to as one of the thirteen Irish Munros.[19][20] Galtymore's prominence qualifies it as a P600, which classes Galtymore as a "major" mountain in Britain and Ireland.[18] Galtymore ranks as the 5th-highest mountain in Ireland on the MountainViews Online Database, 100 Highest Irish Mountains, where the prominence threshold is 100 metres (330 ft).[17][21]
Hill walking
Galtybeg and Lough Dihneen, part of the Circuit of Glencushnabinnia
The most straightforward route to the summit of Galtymore is from the south via the nine-kilometre (5+1⁄2 mi) 3–4 hour Black Road Route, which starts at the end of the Black Road car park (R893204) (accessed from the R639 road near the village of Skeheenarinky), and summits Galtybeg 799 metres (2,621 ft), before the main summit of Galtymore. It then retraces its route back to the Black Road car park.[12][22]
Lough Curra below Galtymore, on the Circuit of Glencushnabinnia, as seen from Slievecushnabinnia; "twin summits" of Galtymore visible
The 12-kilometre (7+1⁄2 mi) 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".[12][23] It starts at the forest car park (R875278) near the Clydagh Bridge in the north, and climbs Cush 641 metres (2,103 ft), Galtybeg 779 metres (2,556 ft), Galtymore and Slievecushnabinnia 775 metres (2,543 ft), before returning to the start (it can also be done anti–clockwise).[12][23][24]
Western Galtys of (after a right turn) Slievecushnabinnia, Carrignabinnia, and Lyracappul (farthest); Lough Curra is in the deep corrie (near right)
The annual Galtee Challenge organised by the Galtee Walking Club is the full 31-kilometre (19+1⁄2 mi), 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.[25] Despite the distance, longer than the MacGillycuddy's Reeks Ridge Walk, the 10–hour estimate is reasonable as the variation in elevation is moderate.[25]
Galtymore's summit is described a large concave plateau separated by two peaks.[24] The plateau consists of Old Red Sandstone and is known as Dawson's Table after the historical landowners, the Dawson-Massey family.[a][4][26] This is similar to Percy's Table on the summit of Lugnaquilla, the highest mountain in County Wicklow and Leinster. There is a cairn on top of each peak and the eastern one marks the true summit of Galtymore.[12] These twin summits give Galtymore a distinctive profile from a distance.[26] The summit of Galtymore marks the boundary of Limerick and Tipperary.[24][26]
In 1975, a 2.1-metre (7 ft) white iron cross was erected on the north edge of Dawson's Table by Tipperary local Ted Kavanagh. The cross is situated a few metres away from the eastern summit cairn and looks into the glen of Aherlow. It is kept white by being painted every year.[27]
The Galtee Wall leading westwards to the summit of Lyracappul
To the west of the summit of Galtymore lies a 3.5-kilometre-long (2+1⁄4 mi) dry stone wall known as the Galtee Wall, that was built in 1878 to separate the Dawson-Massey Estate in the north, from the Galtee Castle Estate in the south. It is recorded that it took 30–40 men more than 4 years to complete the wall, and that the reason for its construction was to give employment to local small farmers during a period of economic depression (hence why is it also called a famine wall).[28] The Galtee Wall runs from below the west summit of Galtymore, across the top of Slievecushnabinnia, the top of Carrignabinnia, and on to the summit of Lyracappul, the second-highest peak in the Galtees.[29]
Folklore
Lough Dihneen
The mountains appear in Irish folk tales, and the deep corrie lakes of the Galtys were believed to be enchanted.[7][30] In early Irish literature, the mountains are called [Sliab] Crotta Cliach (the [mountain] humps of Cliú), which was the name of the surrounding territory. As crotta can also mean a celtic harp, the name was interpreted as "mountains of Cliach's harps", and there is a tale of a legendary harper called Cliach playing his harps in the mountains to woo an otherworldly woman who lived in the summit cairn on Slievenamon.[10][11] After failing, he plays his two harps together, and the hill bursts open and forms a lake.[7] This lake is Lough Muskry, which is named after the Múscraige people that lived in the south of Ireland.[30]
Lake Muskry was formerly known as Loch Béal Séad (lake of the jewel mouth) and also as Loch Béal Dracon (lake of the dragon's mouth). The oldest mention of the name is in the tale entitled Aislinge Óenguso (The Dream of Aengus) which dates from c.750 AD.[31] This states: Mac Og went to Loch Bél Draccon when he saw the 150 white birds at the loch with their silvery chains and golden caps around their heads. The next oldest mention is in the Dindsenchas, composed c.1000. The Metrical Dindsenchas of Crotta Cliach states: At the spot where he died of terror, Cliach sang sweet melody; there seized him there suddenly, not unprotected, the loathly dragon that dwells in this place - Loch Bel Dragon.[32] The Rennes Dindsenchas also relates a further tale of Saint Fursey drowning the dragon in the lake.[33][34] There is a folk tale of a serpent that was killing livestock on the Galty Mountains being banished by Saint Patrick and confined to Lake Muskry.[7] According to the tale, Saint Patrick chained the serpent under the lake and promised to release the creature on Lá an Luan (the Day of Judgement), which the serpent mistook as An Luain (Monday or Easter Monday). The serpent comes up each Easter Monday and asks "Is it the Monday morning yet Patrick?" and Patrick says "No", and the serpent goes down again for another year.[7][35] The same legend is also associated with Lough Dihneen, below Galtybeg.[7][30] The belief in the serpent under Lough Dihneen was held so strongly that a Captain Dawson, a local landlord,[a] attempted to drain Lough Dihneen in the 1830s to kill the serpent.[36]
Folk tales attribute the banishing of the serpent by Saint Patrick with the subsequent richness of farming in the area.[37] In addition to local folklore, Lake Muskry also features in the Irish mythological tale of the Caer Ibormeith.[30]
1976 air crash
On 20 September 1976, three airmen: Tom Gannon, Jimmy Byrne and Dick O'Reilly from Abbeyshrule, were killed when their plane crashed not far from O'Loughlin's Castle, a rock–formation near Greenane West, on the Galtys. The three were founding members of Abbyshrule Air Club. A stone monument in the shape of a plane's tailfin was erected (R393223) a short distance into the Black Road Route on the path to Knockeenatoung. The crash led to the founding of the South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association (SEMRA) in 1977.[38] The event was remembered on its 40th anniversary by SEMRA in September 2016.[39]
Notes
^ abcThe 126,000-acre [51,000-hectare] Dawson-Massey estate was centered on Ballynacourty House in the Glen of Aherlow, on the northern side of the Galty Mountains. It was destroyed by fire during the Irish Civil War in 1922.[4][12][13]
^This peak may be named after the channels on its north–western slopes. The glen here is named Lyraveg Glen.[4]
^P. W. Joyce suggests that the peak (binn) in question is Galtymore, which seems logical. Glencushabinnia is a townland north-east of here.[4]
^The name may well be a shortened form of Cois na Binne, which appears in several place-names in this area. This mountain is referred to as Binnia in 'The Mountains of Ireland' by Paddy Dillon.[4][3]
^On the Discovery map the name Monabrack does not appear. The name Carrigeen Mountain is in roughly the same position but this is a townland name (i.e. the mountain pasture belonging to Carrigeen townland). Previously Lyracappul SE Top in earlier MountainViews listings.[4]
^ This peak is unnamed on the Discovery map. There is a cairn near the summit, which could be the leacht in question. Previously Greenane East in earlier MountainViews listings.[4]
^Stáca can be a stack of hay or corn. The name appears to refer to the hill's shape.[4]
^Also known as Carrigphierish, Ir. Carraig Phiarais, 'Pierce's rock'. Note that this peak is actually unnamed on the Discovery map, while both Carrigphierish and Sturrakeen are marked a little to the northwest of this peak.[4]
^"Galtee Mountains". AskaboutIreland.ie. 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2020. The Galtee Mountains are spread across the borders of three counties in Munster: Limerick, Tipperary and Cork. The name for this range of mountains was derived from the Irish Sléibhte na gCoillte, or "Mountains of the forests". Galtymore is the highest peak in the range, reaching 3,009 ft., and is situated the border between Limerick and Tipperary.
^ ab"Hill Lists: Furths". Scottish Mountaineering Club. Retrieved 12 April 2020. 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.
^ abcO'Dwyer, John G. (18 May 2018). "Walk for the Weekend: A twin-county stroll with splendid views". Irish Times. Retrieved 12 April 2020. Upon gaining this top for the first time, I remember being surprised to discover Galtymore is actually a liminal mountain. I had simultaneously reached the highest point of both counties Limerick and Tipperary for Galtymore is a twin-county, twin-cairned top boasting a large concave plateau known locally as Dawson's Table.
^O'Dwyer, John G. (23 May 2009). "Galty Mountain Challenge". Irish Times. Retrieved 12 April 2020. Here your eyes will immediately be drawn to a white Celtic cross overlooking Aherlow, which was painstakingly erected by Tipperary man Ted Kavanagh in 1975. Its pristine condition is accounted for by local hillwalker and rescuer Jimmy Barry, who for the past decade has taken upon himself the task of painting this cross annually.
^Treacy, Frank (March 2005). If Those Trees Could Speak: The Story of an Ascendancy Family in Ireland(PDF). p. 47. ISBN978-0954766023. Retrieved 12 April 2020. In 1878 a wall was built by the 6th Baron from behind the hill at the rear of Massy Lodge to the western slopes of Galtymore Mountain. It took 30–40 men four years to build and acted as a boundary between the estates of Galtee Castle and the Massy estates. The main reason for building the wall was to give employment to local small farmers during a period of economic depression. The wall covers several of the main peaks of the Galtees and ninety percent of it still stands.((cite book)): |website= ignored (help)
^O'Dwyer, John G. (26 October 2013). "Go Walk: Lough Curra, Co Tipperary". Irish Times. Retrieved 12 April 2020. An impressive structure built in the late 19th century to divide the landholdings of the Galtee Castle and Massey Dawson estates, the Galty Wall runs 3,500m along the ridge top.
^ abcdMassey, Eithne (2004). Legendary Ireland: A Journey Through Celtic Places and Myths. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 83. ISBN978-0299198008.
^Francesca Wild, Lady Jane (1888). "Saint Patrick and the Serpent". Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland [Reprint, 2012]. ISBN978-1480289833.
^"The Serpent in Lough Diheen on the Galtees". Duchas.ie. Retrieved 12 April 2020. So strong was their belief that an attempt was once made to drain the lake. The owner of Ballinacourtie estate [Ballynacourty House], one Captain Dawson, about 150 years ago heard so much about this serpent that on one occasion he took a number of workmen with him to drain the lake and destroy the serpent. They had pickaxes, shovels, spades with them. As they were about to start work Captain Dawson looked towards home only to see as he thought, his mansion on fire.
^"St Patrick and the Killer Snake". YourIrishCulture. 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2020. After St Patrick banished the snake he made his way back to the farmers and informed them of the snakes fate. To their relief he told them to go and look after their livestock which will be vast in quantity for years to come. After 7 long years later the snake appeared at the edge of the lake and asked St Patrick "is it time for me be released yet?" to which St Patrick replied "no" and the snake sank back into the lake. Ever since the snake was banished from the area the Galtee Mountains became famous for its dairy farming and its where Ireland's largest food companies, Galtee, was founded.
^O'Dwyer, John G. (27 November 2008). "Love is in the air". Irish Times. Retrieved 12 April 2020. After about 20 minutes of gentle ascent you will observe a monument in the shape of an aircraft tail about 50m to your right. It was erected to the memory of three Abbeyshrule airmen who died in a crash on a nearby mountainside. This event triggered the foundation, in 1977, of South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association, which provides a comprehensive rescue service across several ranges.
^"Forty year commemoration of Galtee Mountains light aircraft crash held". Avondhu Press. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2020. Members of South Eastern Mountain Rescue Association (SEMRA) and relatives of the three men who died in a light aircraft crash in the Galtee Mountains in 1976, commemorated the event on Saturday last, 17th September. Forty years on from that fateful day on Monday, 20th September 1976, the deceased airmen continue to be remembered by their families as well as local people. A large group of relatives of all ages, and local people were accompanied by members of SEMRA on Saturday last, when they walked to the stone monument on the Black Road.
