Bencorr () at , is the 82nd–highest peak in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

on the

Arderin Arderin () is a mountain on the border between counties Laois and Offaly in Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is ...

scale, and the 102nd–highest peak on the Vandeleur-Lynam scale.Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins", Collins Books, Cork, Bencorr is situated near the centre of the core

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

of the

Twelve Bens The Twelve Bens or Twelve Pins, also called the Benna Beola (), is a mountain range of mostly sharp-peaked quartzite summits and ridges in the Connemara National Park in County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The widest definition of the rang ...

mountain range in the

Connemara National Park Connemara National Park () is one of eight national parks in Ireland, managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. It is located in the northwest of Connemara in County Galway, on the west coast. History Connemara National Park was fo ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

, Ireland. It is the second-tallest mountain of the Twelve Bens range, after

Benbaun Benbaun () is a mountain in County Galway, Ireland. With a height of , it is the 72nd highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale, and the 88th highest peak on the Vandeleur-Lynam scale.Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's M ...

; it lies close to Benbaun, separated only by the third-highest mountain in the range of

Bencollaghduff Bencollaghduff () at , is the 93rd–highest peak in Ireland on the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Arderins, Arderin scale, and the 115th–highest peak on the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Vandeleur-Lynams, Vandeleur-Lynam scale.Mountainviews, ...

, and the col of Maumina.

Naming

An alternative name for the mountain is ''Binn an Choire Mhóir'', meaning "peak of the big corrie". Binn an tSaighdiúra, the "peak of the soldier", is said to have acquired its name after a

sapper A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses ...

working for the

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

fell to his death here.

Geography

Bencorr sits on its own mini-

and is linked by a short high rocky north-eastern ridge to Bencorr North Top at , which gives Bencorr the profile of a "double summit" when viewed from a distance. One of Bencorr's more distinctive features is its long rocky north-easterly spur, known as Carrot Ridge (), on which sits the subsidiary peaks of Binn an tSaighdiúra (whose

prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

of only eight metres, making it an easy peak to miss), and at the far end of the spur, Bencorrbeg . Bencorr (and Bencorr North Top) lie at the junction of two major glaciated

U-shaped valley U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of Glacial period, glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with s ...

s. To the northeast is the Gleninagh Valley, from which the Gleninagh river flows; to the west of Bencorr is the glaciated valley of the Glencoaghan River, which is bounded by several Bens. Bencorr has two eastern corries. The southern and larger corrie lies between the summit of

Derryclare Derryclare or Derryclare Mountain () is a mountain at the southern edge of Twelve Bens range in Connemara National Park in County Galway, Ireland. At , it is the 119th–highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin list, and the 145th–highest peak o ...

and Bencorr and is known as ''Log an Choire Mhóir'', the "hollow of the big corrie", while the northern and smaller corrie lies between the summit of Bencorr and Bencorr North Top and is known as ''Log an Choire Bhig'', the "hollow of the small corrie". Both corries lead down into the Derryclare Wood and

Lough Inagh Lough Inagh () is a freshwater lake in the Inagh Valley, in Connemara, County Galway, in the west of Ireland. Geography Lough Inagh is located about east of Clifden on the R344 road in the Inagh Valley. The Twelve Bens range lies to the west ...

. Bencorr's

of qualifies it as a Marilyn, and it also ranks it as the 48th-highest mountain in Ireland on the

MountainViews Online Database In these lists of mountains in Ireland, those within Northern Ireland, or on the Republic of Ireland – United Kingdom border, are marked with an asterisk, while the rest are within the Republic of Ireland. Where mountains are ranked by height ...

, '' 100 Highest Irish Mountains'', where the minimum prominence threshold is 100 metres.

Hill walking

The most straightforward route to climb Bencorr either via the pass of Maumina by walking up the Gleninagh valley, or by staying on higher ground by first climbing Bencorrbeg and then traversing Carrot Ridge to the summit; both routes total over 9-kilometres and 4–5 hours of walking. A larger horseshoe-type route can be formed from an 11–14 kilometre, 5–7 hour circuit of

and Bencorr, and either descending Bencorr's small spur between its two corries, or continuing on to Bencorr North Top and descending via Carrot Ridge. Bencorr is also climbed as part of the popular 16–kilometre, 8–9 hour ''Glencoaghan Horseshoe'', considered one of the best ridge walks in Ireland. Bencorr is also climbed as part of the ''Gleninagh Horseshoe'', a 15–kilometre, 8–9 hour route around the Gleninagh River usually done counter-clockwise starting at Knockpasheemore and ending at Bencorrbeg;

Rock climbing

Bencorr's northeast rocky spur, Carrot Ridge, is an important rock-climbing venue in Connemara with multi-pitch rock-climbs with grades varying from Diff (D) to Very Severe (VS), and length ranging from 150 to 320 metres. Classic climbing routes include ''Carrot Ridge'' (275m D), and ''Seventh Heaven'' (330m HS). Tempan notes that there are records of Carrot Ridge being climbed as far back as 1933 by students from

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, however the route (and the entire ridge) was named "Carrot Ridge" by Irish climber Joss Lynam who mistakenly believed that their ascent in 1949 was the first-ever ascent of the route. The large easterly corrie between the summits of

and the summit of Bencorr, Log an Choire Mhóir, also contains several large 200 metre multi-pitch graded rock climbs at grades of Diff (D) to Very Diff (VD), the most notable of which is ''The Knave'' (VD, 225 m); and the smaller corrie between the summit of Bencorr and the summit of Bencorr North Top, Log an Choire Bhig, has a number of shorter but harder climbs including ''Corner Climb'' (VS 4c, 30 m).

Gallery

File:Bencorr, Connemara, Ireland.jpg, Carrot Ridge, with Bencorrbeg (l), and Binn an tSaighdiúra and Bencorr N Top (r) File:Bencollaghduff from Benbaun.jpg, View from Benbaun to

(c), and ridge to Bencorr and

behind File:Derryclare Lough - geograph.org.uk - 540873.jpg, View into Glencaghan and summits of (r-to-l)

, Bencorr, and

File:Twelve Bens across Lough Inagh.jpg, Lough Inagh,

(l), Bencorr (c), Bencorr N Top (r) File:Bencollaghduff (left) and Bencorr (right) from north col of Derryclare.jpg, Bencorr (c), with

(back left), from

Bibliography

* * * * *

References

External links

MountainViews: The Irish Mountain Website
Bencorr

the largest database of British Isles mountains ("

DoBIH The mountains and hills of the British Isles are categorised into various lists based on different combinations of elevation, prominence, and other criteria such as isolation. These lists are used for peak bagging, whereby hillwalkers attempt ...

")
Hill Bagging UK & Ireland
the searchable interface for the

{{IrishTrails Marilyns of Ireland Hewitts of Ireland Mountains and hills of County Galway Geography of County Galway Mountains under 1000 metres Climbing areas of Ireland