A steep, pyramid-shaped quartzite mountain rising above dark, boggy moorland cut through with small streams and peat pools

Regional library

Republic of Ireland Library

Explore the Republic of Ireland’s published walking routes, ancient roads, mountain names and hill-list guides, with regional stories from Wicklow and the Midlands to Kerry, Connemara and Donegal.

26guides currently selected5library sections

Hiking Route Guides

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Route Guide1 GPX download

Purple Mountain via the Gap of Dunloe

The direct out-and-back from the Head of the Gap via Glas Lough to Purple Mountain.

25 Aug 2026Read Guide
Route Guide1 GPX download

Mweelrea via Silver Strand

A serious, mostly pathless out-and-back from Silver Strand to Mweelrea, with navigation essential near summit cliffs.

21 Aug 2026Read Guide
Route Guide1 GPX download

Errigal via the R251 South Face Path: Route Guide

Climb Donegal’s highest mountain by Errigal’s restored south-face path, finishing on its dramatic twin-summit ridge.

20 Aug 2026Read Guide
Route Guide1 GPX download

Mount Brandon via Baile Breac and the Saints' Route

The classic Saints' Route out-and-back from Baile Breac to Mount Brandon's summit cross and oratory ruins.

19 Aug 2026Read Guide
Route Guide1 GPX download

Lugnaquilla via Glen of Imaal Tourist Route

The Glen of Imaal tourist-route out-and-back via Camarahill to Lugnaquilla, with artillery-range checks essential.

17 Aug 2026Read Guide
Route Guide1 GPX download

Diamond Hill from Connemara National Park: Route Guide

Climb Diamond Hill on Connemara National Park’s waymarked trail for sweeping views of the Twelve Bens and Atlantic coast.

15 Aug 2026Read Guide
Route Guide1 GPX download

Galtymore via the Black Road: Route Guide

Climb Galtymore by the classic Black Road from Skeheenarinky, following the direct southern route to the Galtees’ highest summit.

13 Aug 2026Read Guide
Route Guide1 GPX download

Great Sugar Loaf via Red Lane

The popular short ascent of Great Sugar Loaf from Red Lane, following open moorland and a rocky summit path.

11 Aug 2026Read Guide
Route Guide1 GPX download

Croagh Patrick via Cosán Phádraig from Murrisk

Climb Croagh Patrick from Murrisk on this 7.4 km out-and-back GPX, following the restored stone Pilgrim Path to the 764 m summit. The route gains 731 m and has a 2h 42m estimate, with current advice for steep terrain, Atlantic weather and Reek Sunday crowds.

06 Aug 2026Read Guide
Route Guide1 GPX download

Carrauntoohil via the Devil’s Ladder

Climb Ireland’s highest mountain from Cronin’s Yard on this 12.1 km out-and-back GPX via Hag’s Glen and the loose, unstable Devil’s Ladder. The route gains 881 m and has a 3h 53m estimate, with detailed rockfall, weather and summit-navigation warnings.

06 Aug 2026Read Guide

Hill Lists and People

Guide

Vandeleur-Lynams and the 15-metre line between an Irish summit and a subsidiary top

The Vandeleur-Lynam list uses a 15-metre prominence threshold, low enough that it includes subsidiary tops alongside independent mountains. As at 31 December 2023 it contained 275 locations above 600 metres: 209 mountain summits, 14 hill summits just short of 2,000 feet, and 52 subsidiary tops with less than 30 metres of prominence.

03 Nov 2026Read
Guide

The Dodds: When Three Regional Lists Became One Metric Classification

Between 500 and 600 metres sits a collection of hills that used to be split across Deweys, Donald Deweys and Highland Fives—until the idea emerged in 2014 to unify them under a single name that works across Britain.

02 Nov 2026Read
Guide

Irvine Butterfield and The High Mountains of Britain and Ireland: When One Guidebook Author Defined 3,000-Foot Walking

Butterfield published route guides to Britain and Ireland's 3,000-foot peaks, popularising the Furth challenge and making Scottish, Welsh, English and Irish mountains accessible in one volume. His guidebook turned a height threshold into a practical walking project.

21 Oct 2026Read
Guide

The Furths: Britain's other 3000-footers

If you've ticked off Scotland's 282 Munros and need something to do with your weekends that doesn't involve developing an entirely new obsession, there are 34 more 3000-foot peaks scattered across Wales, England and Ireland that the Scottish Mountaineering Club has quietly been maintaining in their official tables since 1953.

29 Sept 2026Read
Guide

Simms: the hill category that tidied up the lists

If you've ever wondered why British hill lists seem unnecessarily complicated, Simms offer a rare moment of clarity. Introduced by Alan Dawson in 2010, a Simm is any summit over 600 metres with at least 30 metres of drop all round – a definition that consolidated several older, overlapping lists like Murdos, Corbett Tops, Graham Tops and Hewitts into something more coherent.

28 Sept 2026Read
Guide

Alan Dawson: The Man Who Gave Britain the Marilyns and Then Counted Everything Else

In the 1990s, Alan Dawson formalised the Marilyn classification—every hill with 150 metres of prominence—and then applied the same rigour to HuMPs, Tumps, and Simms. His books turned relative height into a national obsession, and he kept updating the lists until other people took over.

14 Sept 2026Read
Guide

Marilyns: Why a 150-Metre Drop is the Real Test of a Hill

Think altitude is everything? See why a 150-metre drop identifies Britain’s 1,550 Marilyns, and how the list changed in 2025.

24 Aug 2026Read
Guide

The Hewitts: A Study in Prominence and Persistence

A classification that ignores the "pretty" peaks to focus on the physical effort and distinct logic of the high ground.

24 Aug 2026Read
Guide

The HuMPs: The Geography of Independence

Forget the highest peaks and look at the hills that stand on their own—this is the fascinating, mathematical world of the HuMPs.

24 Aug 2026Read

Film Locations

1 guide

Guide

The Island at the End of the Galaxy

Remote, steep and surrounded by Atlantic water, Skellig Michael was a ready-made hiding place for Luke Skywalker. Discover how an ancient Irish monastic island became one of the most unforgettable locations in the modern *Star Wars* films.

29 Oct 2026Read

Landscape and Place Names

2 guides

Guide

Slieve, Sliabh, and Sleeve: When One Mountain Word Has Three Spellings

Slieve means 'mountain' in Irish, but centuries of Anglicisation turned sliabh into slieve, sleeve, and occasionally slee, depending on which mapmaker showed up first. The pronunciation stayed the same—the spelling just gave up.

10 Oct 2026Read
Guide

How Glaciers Carved Britain’s Valleys

Moving ice widened and deepened existing river valleys, grinding the floor and sides into the broad U-shape seen across Britain’s uplands. The article will explain corries, hanging valleys and the marks glaciers left on exposed rock.

04 Sept 2026Read

History and Heritage

4 guides

Guide

Slí Mhór: Ireland's Five Ancient Roads from Tara

Medieval texts mention five roads from Tara. Some traces survive, but the full routes are guesswork. Here's what we actually know.

31 Oct 2026Read
Guide

Esker Riada: The Glacial Ridge That Became Ireland's Dry Route West

The Esker Riada is a glacial ridge that provided an east-west route through wetlands for millennia, with settlement evidence scattered along its length. Claims about Bronze Age toll stations, defended checkpoints, or lidar-revealed fortifications go beyond what archaeology supports, but the ridge itself remains a genuine monument to Ireland's need for solid ground.

31 Oct 2026Read
Guide

St Declan's Way: Sorting Pilgrimage Myth from Modern Trail

The 115km walking route links ancient sites tied to Declan, but the line itself is modern. Here's what we actually know about Ireland's pre-Patrick saint.

31 Oct 2026Read
Guide

St Kevin's Way: A 30-Kilometre Route That Includes Old Paving, Not Vertical Drama

St Kevin's Way runs approximately 30 kilometres from Hollywood or Valleymount to Glendalough, incorporating old trackways and sections of paving. Claims of rock staircases carved in exactly three vertical places aren't supported, but the route still shows where pilgrims chose effort over ease—even if the steepest sections were never quite as theatrical as the stories suggest.

31 Oct 2026Read

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