Mullaghcarbatagh

About Mullaghcarbatagh

Mullaghcarbatagh is a characteristically damp Sperrin summit that doesn't care if you've brought waterproof boots. Situated north of the Gortin Glens, it offers sweeping, moody views of Tyrone’s peatlands, provided you can distinguish the horizon from the persistent grey mist.

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Did You Know?

• •It stands as a central pillar of the Sperrins, part of a sprawling upland plateau formed from ancient Neoproterozoic metamorphic rocks. These dalradian schists are some of the oldest foundations in Ireland.
• •The name likely derives from the Irish 'Mullach Carbadach', suggesting the 'summit of the charioteers' or a 'jagged peak'. It marks a significant point in the wild borderlands between County Tyrone and County Londonderry.
• •The mountain is a key habitat for the red grouse, which you are more likely to hear laughing at your navigation than actually see. Its heather-clad slopes provide a rare sanctuary in an increasingly agricultural landscape.
• •Hikers often approach via the scenic Glenshane Pass or Gortin, but the Lackagh Road offers a more direct, if equally sodden, route to the top. The summit trig pillar acts as a lonely beacon in a sea of brown and purple.
• •Reaching the summit is less of a triumphant mountaineering feat and more of a strategic exercise in peat-hag hopping. You haven't truly experienced Mullaghcarbatagh until you’ve been knee-deep in a 'bottomless' bog hole that looked like solid ground five seconds ago.