Mount Leinster ( ga, Stua Laighean) is a mountain in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

. It straddles the border between

Counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

and

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N1 ...

, in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

. It is the fifth-highest mountain in Leinster after Lugnaquilla ,

Mullaghcleevaun Mullaghcleevaun () at , is the 15th–highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale, and the 20th–highest peak on the Vandeleur-Lynam scale.Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arde ...

Tonelagee Tonelagee () at , is the 25th–highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale, and the 33rd–highest peak on the Vandeleur-Lynam scale.Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins" ...

, and Cloghernagh , and the highest of the Blackstairs Mountains. A 2RN transmission site tops the peak with a mast height of .

Summit access

The mountain is most often climbed from the Nine Stones, a landmark point at the foot of Mount Leinster, about 8 miles

east East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

of Borris. From Borris there is a road to a visitor car park on the mountain. From there the steep 2RN access road leads to the summit. This road is closed to normal

traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffi ...

and 2RN have now fenced off the transmitter mast from public access to prevent

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and #Defacement, defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owne ...

. The Nine Stones and the car park lie on the saddle between Mount Leinster and the nearby Slievebawn (''Sliabh Bán''; ; ). There are in fact ten stones. They are arranged in a line and the largest is about high. The origin of the stones is uncertain.

Other sports

Cycling

Mount Leinster has been used in stages of the Tour of Ireland and on many occasions in the FBD Insurance Rás ( Rás Tailteann). It may be climbed from the Borris side in County Carlow or the

Bunclody Bunclody (), formerly Newtownbarry (until 1950), is a small town on the River Slaney in Wexford, Ireland. It is located near the foot of Mount Leinster. Most of the town is in County Wexford; a small area at the north end of town is in Count ...

side in County Wexford. Ascending from Borris the climb is long and has an average gradient of 6.9%. The last are very tough reaching a gradient of almost 16%. Although the climb from Bunclody is slightly longer at its average gradient is 5.9%. The last of this climb is difficult with a gradient of 16.3%. The mountain is also used by The ML Syndicate (mountain biking club) who use the area for trail riding and MTB sporting events .

Hang gliding

The transmission site is a popular launch location for

hang gliding Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covere ...

and for radio-controlled gliders. In 2003, a hang glider pilot died from injuries sustained in the crash landing of his flight launched from the mountain.Irish Examiner report, 1 May 2004.
Retrieved 2008-07-21 There is a memorial at the peak of the mountain.

Plane Crash

On Wednesday 7 September 1983 a Cessna 182Q Skylane light aircraft crashed below the summit while on a flight from Birmingham to Kilkenny. The four people aboard all died.

Transmission site

The Mount Leinster transmitter is owned and operated by 2RN and at ASL. It is the highest transmission site in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and was one of the original five main Telefís Éireann television transmitters when it opened on low power in December 1962. It became fully operational on 12 June 1963 with a 625-line service on VHF

Band III Band III is the name of the range of radio frequencies within the very high frequency (VHF) part of the electromagnetic spectrum from 174 to 240 megahertz (MHz). It is primarily used for radio and television broadcasting. It is also called high ...

Channel F. The

RTÉ Radio RTÉ Radio is a division of the Irish national broadcasting organisation Raidió Teilifís Éireann. RTÉ Radio broadcasts four analogue channels and five digital channels nationwide. Founded in January 1926 as 2RN, the first broadcaster in ...

FM service was added in 1966, and RTÉ's second television channel RTÉ 2 was carried on VHF when it started in 1978.

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...

television transmissions from Mount Leinster began in 1996 with the introduction of Teilifís na Gaeilge, now known as

TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known a ...

. The original 1962 mast was replaced in 2010 with a taller one of in preparation for

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative advanc ...

transmissions. In common with all the other 2RN sites, analogue television transmissions from Mount Leinster ceased on 24 October 2012. Today the site provides the Irish digital television service

Saorview Saorview ( ) is the national digital terrestrial television (DTT) service in Ireland. It is owned by RTÉ and operated by 2RN. The service began operation on 29 October 2010 on a trial basis with a full launch on 26 May 2011. By legislation i ...

, and eight FM radio stations to a large area of South East Ireland.

Current transmissions

Digital television

FM radio

Relay

Relay transmitters A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

that rebroadcast digital television from Mount Leinster:

References

{{Mountains and hills of Leinster

Transmitter sites in Ireland Highest points of Irish counties