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Mountains of Mourne
*** Shopping-Tip: Mountains of Mourne
Image:Mournes wiki.jpg thumb|230px|View of the Mourne Mountains from St. John's Point, County Down
image:mourneben.jpg right|thumb|230px|View of Slieve Lamagan
image:mourne_mountains.jpg right|thumb|230px|The Mourne Wall
Located in
County Down in the south-east of
Northern Ireland, the granite '''Mountains of Mourne''' (or '''Mourne Mountains'''; or ''Na Beanna Boirche'' in
Irish language Irish) are among the best known of the mountains on
Ireland the island of Ireland. The surrounding area is an
Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Northern Ireland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is proposed as the first
National Park in Northern Ireland. The Mourne Mountains are partly owned by the
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty National Trust and see a large number of visitors every year; their highest mountain is
Slieve Donard at 850 m (2707 ft).
The mountains
The Mountains of Mourne are visited by many
tourists,
Hillwalking hillwalkers,
cyclists and
Climbing rock climbers. Following a fundraising drive in 1993, the
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty National Trust purchased nearly 5.26 km² (1300 acres) of land in the Mournes. This included Slieve Donard and nearby Slive Commedagh, at 767 m (2516 ft) the second-highest mountain in the area.
The
Mourne Wall is among the more famous features in the Mournes. It is a 35 km (22 mile)
dry-stone wall that crosses 15 summits, constructed to define the boundaries of the 36 km² (9000 acre) area of land purchased by the
DRD Water Service Belfast Water Commissioners in the late 1800s. This followed a number of
Acts of Parliament allowing the sale, and the establishment of a water supply from the Mournes to the growing
industrial city of Belfast. Construction of the Mourne Wall was started in 1904 and was completed in 1922.
Many of the mountains have names beginning ''Slieve'', from the Irish word ''sliabh'', meaning ''mountain''. As well as many of the well-known mountains such as Slieve Donard, Slieve Lamagan and Slieve Muck, there are a number of other curious names: Pigeon Rock; Buzzard's Roost; Brandy Pad; Percy Bysshe; the Devil's Coach Road; and Pollaphuca, which means "pool of the
fairies" or "
Sprite (creature) sprite".
See also
*
List of climbing_areas#Ireland List of climbing areas in Ireland
*
List of mountains in Ireland
External links
-
The Mourne Mountains website
-
A local family's site with some information about the mountains
-
Irish Climbing Online
-
Mournes Climbers
-
BBC article about the Mourne Wall
-
Google Maps
{{NI-geo-stub}}
{{climbing-stub}}
Category:Mountains and hills of Northern Ireland Mourne, Mountains of
Category:County Down Mourne, Mountains of
Category:Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Northern Ireland
Category:Climbing areas
ja:モーン山地
sv:Mournefjällen
*** Shopping-Tip: Mountains of Mourne
