Mount Leinster [Stua Laighean]

Dominating the Blackstairs Mountains on the Carlow-Wexford border, this Hewitt is instantly recognisable by the towering 122-metre television transmitter at its summit. A steep service road offers a functional ascent, but the true reward lies in the expansive views across the Barrow Valley toward the distant Wicklow Mountains.

• •The Irish name Stua Laighean translates as the 'Peak of Leinster'. While 'stua' often refers to a pinnacle or an arch, in this context it denotes the mountain’s prominent position as the highest point in the Blackstairs range.
• •The summit is crowned by a high-power transmission site with a 122-metre mast. Constructed in the early 1960s to bring television signals to the southeast, it has made the mountain an unmistakable landmark for miles around.
• •Many walkers begin their ascent from the Nine Stones, a series of small monuments arranged in a line on the mountain's northern shoulder. Local folklore suggests they mark the burial place of nine shepherds who perished in a winter storm.
• •From the summit plateau, walkers can look east across the Wexford coastline to the Irish Sea; on days of exceptional visibility, the faint outlines of the Preseli Hills in Wales are visible on the horizon.
• •If the steep climb up the tarmac service road feels a little clinical for a mountain hike, you can take comfort in the fact that it is one of the few peaks in Ireland where you are guaranteed a full five bars of mobile signal.