Mount Brandon


Mount Brandon or Brandon, at, is one of the ten highest peaks in Ireland, being the 8th–highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin list, and the 9th–highest on the Vandeleur-Lynam list. Brandon is the highest Irish mountain outside the MacGillycuddy's Reeks range and has the greatest prominence of any Irish peak except Carrauntoohil, Ireland's highest mountain.
Mount Brandon is at the centre of a long high ridge called the Brandon Group range of mountains in the Dingle Peninsula in Kerry. The ridge contains seven other major peaks ; one is the similarly named Brandon Peak. The positioning and dimensions of the Brandon Group ridge have made it the scene of several air accidents over the years. The mountain, and range, is named after Saint Brendan, and is the end of a Christian pilgrimage trail known as Cosán na Naomh. It is also well regarded for hill walking with routes such as the 4–5-hour Faha Route, and the 6–7-hour traverse of the entire range known as "one of the finest ridgewalks in Ireland".

Geology

Brandon is composed of sandstone particles of various sizes collectively known as Old Red Sandstone. Old Red Sandstone has a purple–reddish colour, and has virtually no fossils. The colour gave its name to nearby Purple Mountain. The composition of Old Red Sandstone is variable and contains quartz stones, mudstones, siltstones, and sandstone particles. They are described by the Geological Survey of Ireland as the oldest Devonian rocks in Ireland.

Geography

Mount Brandon itself is in the middle of a long and high ridge known as the Brandon Group, which runs north–south for across the width of the Dingle peninsula. As well as Mount Brandon, the Brandon Group ridge has seven other major classified peaks, including the similarly named Brandon Peak, Benagh, Faha Ridge, Gearhane, Masatiompan, Piaras Mór, and An Scraig.
The most distinctive aspect of the Brandon Group is the contrast between the gentle grassy slopes on its western side, and the sharp cliffs and deep corries of its eastern side; an effect that the Brandon Group's long north–south ridge exactly separates.
Mount Brandon owes its craggy shape to the work of glaciers during the ice age, which gouged out a series of corries on the eastern flank of the mountain. The summit of Mount Brandon is rounded and smooth as it was likely a nunatuk, and presents a stark contrast to Brandon Peak, or Barr an Ghéaráin, which is alpine in appearance.
On Brandon's deep eastern corrie, flanked by Faha Ridge to its north, is a series of rocky plateaus, each of which has a small paternoster lake; over ten lakes grow in size descending the mountain. From highest they are, the Locha Chom an Chnoic, Loch na Lice and Loch Cruite. This corrie's natural environment, and positioning on the Faha Route, means it is regularly photographed.
Brandon is the 340th–highest mountain, and 10th most prominent mountain, in Britain and Ireland, on the Simms classification. Brandon is regarded by the Scottish Mountaineering Club as one of 34 Furths, which is a mountain above in elevation, and meets the other SMC criteria for a Munro, but which is outside of Scotland; Brandon is referred to as one of the 13 Irish Munros.
Brandon's prominence qualifies for the P600 classification. Both Brandon and Brandon Peak, meet the Britain and Ireland Marilyn classification. Brandon is the 3rd highest mountain, and Brandon Peak is the 9th highest mountain, in the MountainViews Online Database, 100 Highest Irish Mountains.

Naming

The mountain is called Brandon Mountain, Mount Brandon and Brandon on various maps.
Brandon takes its name from Saint Brendan the Navigator, or Bréanainn, who is said to have been born in what is now County Kerry in 484 AD, and is chiefly known for his legendary voyage in a boat of wood and leather to discover the "Isle of the Blessed", also called Saint Brendan's Island. In the story of Brendan's life, he spent three days fasting on the mountain before his voyage, was visited by an angel, and experienced a vision of "a great land to the west"; the mountain is described as being surrounded by the ocean, which fits with the topography of Mount Brandon.
Irish academic Paul Tempan wrote in his 2010 Irish Hill and Mountain Names, that it is likely that the mountain was a source of pilgrimage even before both St. Brendan and the arrival of Christianity altogether. Its importance may be due to the fact that, being so far west and so high, it is the place where the sun can be seen the latest as it sinks below the horizon. Tempan notes that the medieval story about Brendan's life calls the mountain Sliabh nDaidche in the Irish version, or Mons Aitche in the Latin version; and that the Irish academic Dr Alan Mac an Bhaird, had translated this as "mountain of Faithche", as Brandon stands in the Faha townland. However, some believe that the Mons Aitche name refers to Slieve Aughty, rather than to Mount Brandon.
Some sources link the name with the voyages of Bran mac Febail, however, this is considered less likely.

Hill walking

The quickest and easiest route to the summit of Mount Brandon is from the west via the final stages of the medieval pilgrim path, The Saint's Route, which begins away in Ventry. The route starts from the car park of Ballybrack , and follows the straight grassy path, marked by large crosses, to the summit of Mount Brandon; then retracing back to Ballybrack. The route takes 3–4 hours. A longer 5-hour variation is to continue north along the summit ridge from Mount Brandon to Piaras Mor, and then descend to Ballyknockane.
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A scenic variation is the 4–5-hour Faha Route, the Pilgrim's Path, which starts from the east via the car park at the Faha Grotto just outside Cloghane. The route to the summit is marked, and offers views of the deep corries and paternoster lakes on Brandon's glaciated east face. It follows a trail below the Faha Ridge to the summit; then retracing back to Faha Grotto.
The full ridge walk of the entire Mount Brandon range, regarded as "one of the finest ridge walks in Ireland", crosses the full ridge of the Brandon Group from the Conor Pass to Masatiompan and takes 6–7 hours. The route from the Conor Pass to Mount Brandon and back to the Conor Pass is even longer, at and takes up to 8 hours to complete.

List of peaks

The following is a download from the MountainViews Online Database, who list 15 Brandon Group peaks over 100 metres.
Height
Rank		Prom.
Rank		NameIrish Name TranslationHeight
Prom.
Height
Prom.
Topo
Map		OSI Grid
Reference
11BrandonCnoc BréanainnBrendan's Hill9529343,1223,06470
213Brandon North Top——895232,9387670
314Brandon Far North Top——840172,7565770
43Brandon PeakBarr an GhéaráinTop of the Fang8401902,75662370
56BenaghBinn FaichePeak of Faha822572,69718770
68Faha RidgeNa PoirtThe Fortifications809442,65414470
710GearhaneAn GéaránThe Fang803262,6358570
811Brandon South TopFaill na nDeamhanCliff of the Demons790252,5928270
94MasatiompanMás an TiompáinHollow7621092,50035870
109Piaras Mór—Big Pierce746332,44710870
1115Piaras Mór thuaidh barr——700122,2973870
122BallysitteraghAn ScraigRocky Outcrop6232182,04471570
1312BeennabrackBinn na mBroc
Macha na gCab		Peak of the Badgers
Plain of the Beaks		609241,9967770
147An Bhinn Dubh—The Black Peak479511,57216670
155Faill an tSáis—Cliff of the Noose4311061,41334870

Pilgrimage

Due to its link with Saint Brendan, the mountain is popular with Irish Catholic pilgrims. The mountain's relative height and status of being at an extreme westerly point appeared to have been of great importance to Saint Brendan. A pilgrimage route called Cosán na Naomh begins at Cill Mhic an Domhnaigh on Ventry Strand at the southern end of the Dingle peninsula, and ends at Séipéilín Bréanainn on Brandon's summit. Sáipéilín Bréanainn is the remains of a stone building believed to have been used by Saint Brendan. The path to the peak is marked by small white crosses and the peak itself is topped by a large metal cross. It is speculated the pilgrimage originated in pre-Christian times as a Lughnasadh ritual.
In 1997, the Irish Heritage Council set up the Pilgrim Paths Project to restore walking routes along Irish medieval pilgrimage paths. One of the routes chosen was Cosán na Naomh, and an 18–kilometre way-marked trail was constructed between Ventry Strand and the grotto at Ballybrack at the foot of Mount Brandon. The trail has been developed to the standard required by the Irish Sports Council for National Waymarked Trails in Ireland. For safety reasons, it was decided not to mark the trail to the end of the medieval route at the summit of Brandon, but to finish at Ballybrack. The starting point at Ventry is one of the places pilgrims would have come ashore. The trail passes a number of important ecclesiastical heritage sites including Gallarus Oratory and Kilmalkedar monastic site.

Aircraft accidents

Between 1940 and 1943 a number of Allied and Axis aircraft crashed on Brandon and the Faha Ridge.

Religious

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