Knocknadobar () at , is the 102nd–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 123rd–highest peak in Ireland according to the Vandeleur-Lynam scale.Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins", Collins Books, Cork, Knocknadobar is one of the main mountains of the

Iveragh Peninsula The Iveragh Peninsula () is located in County Kerry in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the largest peninsula in southwestern Ireland. A mountain range, the MacGillycuddy's Reeks, lies in the centre of the peninsula. Carrauntoohil, its hig ...

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

, and has been one of the most important sites of pilgrimage in Ireland since medieval times.

Naming

Knocknadobar means "hill of the wells". The mountain is in south-west corner of Ireland standing against the prevailing south-west winds carrying rain from the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

; thus Knocknadobar absorbs significant water, and in places, freshwater literally springs out of the ground like a Well. There are holy wells at the base of the Mountain, most notably St. Fursey's Holy Well, which has been a site of pilgrimage since medieval times, dedicated to

Saint Fursey Saint Fursey (also known as Fursa, Fursy, Forseus, and Furseus: died 650) was an Irish monk who did much to establish Christianity throughout the British Isles and particularly in East Anglia. He reportedly experienced angelic visions of the a ...

(c 597–650 AD). Paul Tempan notes that St. Fursey's Holy Well was noted as a cure for eye complaints.

Geography

Knocknadobar is northeast of

Cahersiveen Cahersiveen (), sometimes Cahirciveen, is a town in the south-west of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, in County Kerry. As of the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a population of 1,297. Geography Cahersiveen is on the slopes of 376-met ...

, and north of the N70 road, on the coast of

Dingle Bay Dingle Bay (''Bá an Daingin'' in Irish language, Irish) is a bay located in County Kerry, western Ireland. The outer parts of the Dingle Peninsula and Dingle Bay mark one of the westernmost points of mainland Ireland. The harbour town of Ding ...

. Knocknadobar is an almost "stand-alone" mountain, and thus its in height, translates into of prominence, qualifying it to meet the British Isles Marilyn classification. Knocknadobar also meets the

Simm A SIMM (single in-line memory module) is a type of memory module used in computers from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. It is a printed circuit board upon which multiple random-access memory Integrated circuit chips are attached to one or ...

and Hewitt classifications. Knocknadobar ranks as the 32nd-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 prominence threshold is over 100 metres.

Pilgrimage

Cnoc na dTobar is noted as an ancient pilgrim mountain. Even before Christian times, in the 5th-century, the Knocknadobar was a place of celebrations for Celtic Lúghnasa Festivals in August. Lúgh (pronounced Loo) was the god of the Harvest, and festivals or dancing and merriment were held on high ground to make offerings for a good harvest, and Knocknatobar's wide flat summit provided a suitable venue. The word for August in the Irish language is "Lúhgnasa" (pronounced in English as "Luanasa"). In 1884–85, Christian crosses were placed along on the ancient pilgrim trail to represent the 14

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

, and an altar and a large Celtic cross was placed at the top where mass is said yearly; these works were undertaken by Canon Brosnan of

. The full ''Cnock na dTobar Pilgrimage Path'' takes circa 3.5 hours to complete the 9-kilometre route, and is part of the ''National Pilgrim Passport'' scheme run by

Pilgrim Paths of Ireland Pilgrim Paths Ireland (PPI) is a non-denominational representative body for Ireland's medieval pilgrim paths. PPI was founded in 2013 to oversee the development and promotion of Ireland's medieval pilgrimage paths, and consists of 12 community gr ...

. The flat summit offers views of other major pilgrimage sites:

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 Ma ...

, and

Skellig Michael Skellig Michael ( ), also called Great Skellig ( ), is a twin-pinnacled crag west of the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The island is named after the archangel Michael, with "Skellig" derived from the Irish language word , meaning ...

Books

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References

External links

Knocknadobar at MountainViewsPassport for Ireland's Medieval Pilgrim Paths 2016
Collins Press (2016) {{IrishTrails Mountains and hills of County Kerry Mountains under 1000 metres Marilyns of Ireland Hewitts of Ireland Pilgrimage routes Roman Catholic pilgrimage sites in Ireland

Knocknadobar Knocknadobar () at , is the 102nd–highest peak in Ireland on the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Arderins, Arderin scale, and the 123rd–highest peak in Ireland according to the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Vandeleur-Lynams, Vandeleur-Lynam sc ...