Clomantagh Hill [Killoshulan] [Cnoc na Cloiche Mantai]

About Clomantagh Hill [Killoshulan] [Cnoc na Cloiche Mantai]

Rising above the Kilkenny plains near Urlingford, this Marilyn is the high point of the Slieveardagh range. The ascent through quiet farmland leads to a broad summit marked by a prehistoric burial cairn. It offers a surprisingly expansive vantage point over the fertile heart of the midlands toward the distant Devil’s Bit.

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Did You Know?

• •The Irish name Cnoc na Cloiche Mantai translates as 'Hill of the Gapped Stone,' likely a reference to a specific limestone outcrop or a breached prehistoric structure on its slopes.
• •At the foot of the hill sits Clomantagh Castle, a well-preserved 15th-century tower house once belonging to the Earls of Ormond, which unusually shares its courtyard with a much later 19th-century farmhouse.
• •The summit area is often referred to as Killoshulan, taking its name from an ancient ecclesiastical site; the ruins of a medieval church and graveyard are still situated on the hill's lower northern slopes.
• •On a clear day, the 349-metre crest provides a direct line of sight to the distinctive profile of Slievenamon to the south and the sprawling Slieve Bloom Mountains to the north.
• •Despite its modest stature, its status as a Marilyn means it boasts more relative prominence than many Irish peaks twice its height—a fact that rarely impresses the local sheep.