COMPARING IRISH AND SCOTTISH HILLS

The first thing that strikes you when comparing the Irish hills with the Scottish ones is the huge amount they have in common. They’re both sets of wild rough hills on the raggedy western edge of Europe and their geology, climate and history aren’t all that different. In terms of specific areas then Connemara is like Sutherland, Kerry is a lusher Torridon, Wicklow resembles the Angus Glens, the Mournes are a less jagged Arran and Donegal is a more populated and less oceanic Outer Hebrides. The one Irish area with no Scottish counterpart is the Burren, Scotland having nowhere remotely like its intricate “fertile rockiness”. Going the other way, Ireland has no equivalents to the high arctic plateau of the Cairngorms or the sub-alpine jaggedness of the Skye Cuillin.

The Burren, completely unique

The most obvious difference is scale. The Scottish Highlands are a third higher (Ben Nevis is 1397m to Carrauntoohil’s 1040m) and there are many more roadless blocks so distances to summits are usually longer. In terms of remoteness there are no Irish equivalents to the vast empty spaces of Sutherland, the Fisherfield or the Forest of Atholl. Any hill in Ireland, even those in the central Nephin Begs, can be climbed by an averagely fit hillwalker in a not unreasonable day. That said there are a lot fewer high roads in Ireland (outside Wicklow) so the height gain from road to summit is often not dissimilar. In terms of numbers bagging the Vandeleur Lynams (Irish 600m+) is a similar challenge to bagging the Munros (275 to 282).

The Beenkeragh ridge, would be quite at home in Torridon

Another obvious difference is that the Irish hills are far less massed together. Whereas in the Highlands views from the summits are often of ridge after ridge receding into the distance as far as the eye can see, in Ireland the hill ranges are separated by swathes of lowland, often highly cultivated. Ireland is a country of small fields and small farms, while Scotland’s land ownership is amongst the most concentrated in Europe. Views such as that looking out over the Golden Vale from the Galtees or towards Killarney from the Slieve Mish are quintessentially Irish and just don’t exist in Scotland. Where Scottish hills do border lowlands, in Angus for instance, or Easter Ross, they tend to overlook big arable fields with few hedges, whereas their Irish equivalents often spring from a fretwork of tiny green pastures.

Rough hills flanked by small green fields, Slievenashaska near Sneem

Partly this is because Ireland’s dominant limestones and sandstones are more fertile than the older, harder rocks of the Highlands, but mostly it’s a consequence of history. Although Ireland isn’t short of abandoned cottages and has had plenty of emigration it never suffered the wholesale clearances that the Highlands went through 200 years ago, with whole glens forcibly emptied. Come down to low ground off an Irish hill and you will almost always find a road and people, as opposed to descending into a Scottish glen, where you can face several hours walk to a road, and even then you may be many miles from a habitation. There are some exceptions of course, the miles of empty peatlands that fringe the Nephin Begs in Mayo, for instance.

Corranabinnia in the Nephin Begs, Ireland's most remote hills

In some ways this makes the Irish hills less serious than the Scottish ones, and in terms of size and remoteness this is true, but it’s counterbalanced to some extent by the fact that there are far fewer hillwalkers in Ireland than in Scotland. You are unlikely to meet anyone on an Irish hill outside Wicklow or the Mournes (close to Dublin and Belfast respectively). A few prominent spikes are exceptions – Errigal, Carrauntoohil, Croagh Patrick and Connemara’s Diamond Hill spring to mind. I can still count on one hand the number of people I’ve met on other Irish hills though, in around 300 hill days. Of course this means that there are far fewer tracks too, and away from those areas mentioned above you are likely to find yourself making your own route, and given the roughness of many Irish hills that can be quite an undertaking.

Typically rough pathless ground in the Dunkerrons

Ireland is green for a reason - it rains on even more days than in Scotland, but the totals are lower as there are fewer days of continuous rain and more sun-and-showers ones. Bad weather is common enough, but it usually lacks the ferocity of the worst Scottish conditions. That said, the only time I cancelled a walk completely in 33 years of guiding was in Connemara - stepping outside was like having a bucket emptied over you! Being a bit more Atlantic the weather also changes faster in Ireland than it usually does in the Scottish mainland, akin to Hebridean weather. It sometimes seems like half the temperate places in the world use the cliché “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute”, but in Ireland it’s often true 😁.

Smaller hills, being further south and jutting further out into the Atlantic means that Ireland has far less snow than Scotland, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t get any. I’ve had several snowy days in Kerry and one on the Galtees, including one where I was very glad of an ice axe and crampons. There are recorded ice climbs in the Mournes and Wicklow, and there was one famous occasion where a waterfall in Donegal froze and eight climbers could only rustle up three sets of ice gear between them. Lots of lowering and adjusting in precarious places followed – there are photographs of it in a local bar. Generally though it’s unusual to need an ice axe on Irish hills, which is certainly not the case in Scotland!

A snowy day on the Galtees

If anything the average Irish hill is even rougher than the average Scottish one, something accentuated by the lack of paths. Places such as the Maum Turks and the Dunkerrons will test the boulder hopping and micro navigation skills of even someone used to Torridon or Knoydart. The endless piles of quartzite boulders and random humps of the Turks make a particularly formidable challenge. The 25km end to end walk takes most people 10-12 hours, and there have been occasions on the annual end to end walk where hardly anyone has finished the whole route within the control time.

The Maum Turks, the roughest ground in Ireland?

So if you enjoy particular bits of the Scottish hills then where in Ireland should you go? Afficianados of Torridon should head for Kerry and MacGillicuddy’s Reeks. The Big Gun (Lackagarriv) section of the ridge is reminiscent of Liathach’s Fasarinen Pinnacles, though a little easier and less up and down. The Carrauntoohil to Beenkeragh section is similar, while the East Ridge of Beenkeragh is more like the Horns of Alligin, with lots of linked outcrops.

Finnararagh in the Dunkerrons, reminiscent of the Applecross hills

The nearby Dunkerrons are a plateau surrounded by tiers of sandstone, a bit like the Applecross hills but a lot rougher going on the tops, while Mangerton has something of the feel of Maoile Lunndaidh, a gentle dome incised by deep corries.

The Beenkeragh ridge, very Torridonian

If you like the sort of ridge that knows it’s a ridge but doesn’t make you use your hands (think Kintail or the Glenfinnan hills) then head for the Sheefrys or Mweelrea and enjoy the sense of being up high without the scary bit. The huge cliffs on the north side of the latter provide a real sense of drama, while on the other side the closeness to the sea emphasises the height.

Mweelrea from Killary

For those who like their mountains big and muscular but prefer easier ground underfoot then the Galtees would be a good destination. Think what Ben Lawers would feel like without the paths, although their closest cousins are actually Wales’s Brecon Beacons, to which they bear a very strong resemblance (with far fewer paths, of course).

The western Galtees

Errigal in Donegal has a strong kinship with Schiehallion, a pointed quartzite mountain with one well-used path. By contrast the Derryveaghs just across the glen (see header pic) are very rough granite hills that would be quite at home in Harris or West Lewis.

Errigal from Slieve Snaght

As mentioned before, the Mournes have a strong resemblance to Arran, unsurprising given the common geology. The rock tors are similar but the ridges are broader – there’s no Mourne equivalent of A’ Chir or Ceum na Caillich. The two areas have the same accessibility and compactness, and also share a closeness to the sea and a footage of touristland, which is why the Mournes have far more paths than any other Irish range.

Feels like Arran but it's Slieve Bearnagh in the Mournes

At the opposite extreme the most remote hills in Ireland are Mayo’s Nephin Begs, broad steep-sided ridges flanked by some very rough ground and miles of forestry. The obvious comparison is Galloway, but even less frequented and with even fewer paths. Although they are very rough in parts they still don’t quite match the gnarliness of the Loch Enoch area of Galloway though, and there’s nothing to compare with the “Dougals”, the giant tussocks around the Silver Flowe (sorry, showing my age 😁).

If you’re in that part of Mayo then make sure to visit the huge sea cliffs on the north coast around Benwee and Glinsk, with a similar size and grandeur to the Duirinish sea cliffs in NW Skye. Achill Island is a must too, with Croaghaun dropping 2000 foot to the Atlantic. The latter always reminds me of Beinn Mhor in South Uist, but with the open ocean right at the foot of the cliffs.

Corraduff cliffs, North Mayo

Of course all the best walks in Ireland finish in a pub, and in the land of flowing Guinness there are many more of them than in the depopulated and largely Presbyterian Highlands. Back in my days in Connemara Keane’s Bar at Maum, Hamilton’s in Leenaun and Paddy Coyne’s at Tully Cross were establishments of character, and I gather that they still are. In Kerry the Climber’s Inn at Glencar has the feel of Wasdale Head or the Pen y Gwryd, a mountaineers pub, but because there are fewer climbers and more pubs you don’t get the more bustling outdoor-focussed pubs like the Clachaig, the Sligachan or the Old Dungeon Ghyll. Wherever you are in Ireland though there’s certainly not going to be a shortage of places to have a post hill pint. Slainte!

Back in 2017 Simon Stewart of the excellent Irish hill website Mountainviews suggested that I write a comparison of the Scottish hills with the Irish ones, which was published in their first Annual. This is the view the other way round.