The Big Gun


The Big Gun, at high, is the ninth-highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin list, or the tenth-highest according to the Vandeleur-Lynam list. It is part of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks in County Kerry, and is also known as Lackagarrin or Foilnabreachaun.

Geography

The Big Gun is in the eastern section of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks in County Kerry, Ireland's highest mountain range. It is on a narrow rocky arête between the mountains of Cnoc na Péiste to the southwest, and Cruach Mhór to the north, and is considered as offering some of the most exposed and serious hill walking in Ireland.
Because of its positioning, The Big Gun is usually climbed as part of a horseshoe, or loop-walk, of the eastern section of the Reeks, starting and ending from the Hag's Glen. It is also climbed as part of the even longer MacGillycuddy's Reeks Ridge Walk, which often starts at The Big Gun's eastern end, from Kate Kearney's Cottage in the Gap of Dunloe.
The Big Gun is the 378th-highest mountain peak in Britain and Ireland on the Simm classification. It is regarded by the Scottish Mountaineering Club as one of 34 Furths, which is a mountain peak above in elevation, and meets the other SMC criteria for a Munro, but which is outside of Scotland; which is why The Big Gun is sometimes referred to as one of the 13 Irish Munros.
The Big Gun's prominence qualifies it to meet the Arderin classification, and the British Isles Simm and Hewitt classifications. The Big Gun does not appear in the MountainViews Online Database, 100 Highest Irish Mountains, as the prominence threshold is over.