Derryclare
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Derryclare or Derryclare Mountain () is a mountain at the southern edge of
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 ...
range in
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 ...
in
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 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 ...
. At , it is the 119th–highest peak in Ireland 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 ...
list, and the 145th–highest peak on the Vandeleur-Lynam list.Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins", Collins Books, Cork, It is the 5th tallest of the core ''
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 ...
''. The Derryclare Lough on its southern slopes is a scenic location in Connemara, while Derryclare Wood, on its eastern slopes, contains a ''Statutory Nature Reserve'' (SRN). Derryclare's
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 does not qualify it as a Marilyn, however, it does rank as the 72nd-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.


Naming

The name "Derryclare" comes from Irish ''Doire Chláir''; means "an oak wood", and can mean either a "plain" or a "board/plank-bridge". Irish academic Paul Tempan says
Ordnance Survey Ireland Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI; ) was the national mapping agency of the Republic of Ireland. It was established on 4 March 2002 as a body corporate. It was the successor to the former Ordnance Survey of Ireland. It and the Ordnance Survey of ...
most likely transferred the name from the nearby
townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...
of Derryclare, east of the mountain. The full Irish name of the mountain itself is , meaning "peak of the oak wood at the plain or plank-bridge"; such a translation would be consistent with the easterly slopes of Derryclare, where Derryclare Wood is bounded by Derryclare Lough and Lough Inagh. On the mountain's southern shoulder is a rocky outcrop called Bennaderreen, from , "peak of the little oak wood".


Geography

Derryclare is one of the most southerly of the Bens and sits at the eastern side of the entrance to the large
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 ...
of the Glencoaghan River. To the south of Derrclare is the scenic lake of Derryclare Lough, and to the east is the large Inagh Valley, and Lough Inagh. Derryclare's only neighbour is Bencorr , the 2nd-highest peak in the Twelve Bens range, to which it is connected by a high northern rocky ridge. Derryclare and Bencorr form a large deep eastern corrie called (meaning "wood of the big corrie"). The corrie leads down to the Derryclare Wood, which includes a 19-hectare
broadleaf forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...
that is a ''Statutory Nature Reserve'' (SRN), and a 789-hectare commercial
conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...
forest owned and operated by
Coillte Coillte (; ; meaning /) is a state-owned commercial forestry business in Ireland based in Newtownmountkennedy. Coillte manage approximately 7% of the country’s land, and operates three businesses - their core forestry business, a 'land solut ...
; both of which are bounded by Derryclare Lough and Lough Inagh.


Derryclare Nature Reserve

In 1980, the Irish state designated 19-hectares of woodland on the eastern slopes of Derryclare as a ''Statutory Nature Reserve'' called the Derryclare Nature Reserve (or Derryclare Wood by some sources). The broadleaf trees in the reserve are composed of
Sessile Oak ''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Welsh oak, Cornish oak, Irish oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an unof ...
, with
Rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya ...
(Sorbus aucuparia),
Downy Birch ''Betula pubescens'' (syn. ''Betula alba''), commonly known as downy birch and also as moor birch, white birch, European white birch or hairy birch, is a species of deciduous tree, native and abundant throughout northern Europe and northern Asia ...
(Betula pubescens) and some Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) creating a canopy layer; there are well-developed lichen and fungus flora present. The fungal parasite, Hemigrapha astericus, a native of Australia and South America, was first recorded in the northern hemisphere in Derryclare Wood. In 2005, 19 Irish
red squirrels The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris''), also called Eurasian red squirrel, is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is an arboreal and primarily herbivorous rodent and common throughout Eurasia. Taxonomy There have been o ...
were translocated from Portumna Forest Park to Derryclare Wood as part of a programme to protect the species in Ireland.


Hill walking

Derryclare is one of the more accessible Twelve Bens, being situated near the
N59 road N59 may refer to: * N59 road (Ireland) * N59 highway (Philippines) * , a submarine of the Royal Navy * Nebraska Highway 59, in the United States * Rosaschi Air Park, in Lyon County, Nevada, United States {{Road disambiguation ...
, and a number of routes are available from the ''Glencoaghan Valley'' side in the west, or the ''Derryclare Nature Reserve'' side in the east, that climb to the summit and back. Derryclare can be climbed in "horseshoe" walks such as the 11–14 kilometre 5–7 hour circuit of Bencorr (descending via Bencorr's easterly spur at the northern end of ), and/or Bencorr North Top (descending via Carrot Ridge, at the northern end of ). Derryclare is also often climbed as part of the popular 16–kilometre 8–9 hour ''Glencoaghan Horseshoe'', considered one of Ireland's best hill-walks.


Rock climbing

The large easterly corrie between the summit of Derryclare and the summit of Bencorr, (meaning "wood of the big corrie"), contains several large 200 metre multi-pitch graded rock climbs of grades Diff (D) to Very Diff (VD), the most notable of which is ''The Knave'' (VD, 225 m).


Gallery

File:South ridge of Derryclare to summit.jpg, Summit of Derryclare from south-ridge File:Bencorr & Derryclare from summit of Bencollaghduff.jpg, Bencorr (center) and Derryclare (right), from
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, ...
File:Derryclare, Bencorr & Benbaun from lower south ridge of Letterbreckaun.jpg, Derryclare (left), Bencorr (centre), Bencorr North Top (right);
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 ...
is far right File:Twelve Bens across Lough Inagh.jpg, Derryclare (left), Bencorr (centre), and Bencorr North Top (right); with the corries of Log an Choire Mhóir (left) and Log an Choire Bhig (right) File:Looking south to Summit of Derryclare.jpg, Looking south to the summit of Derryclare from its northern-ridge with Bencorr


Bibliography

* * * * *


See also

*
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 ...
* Mweelrea, major range in Killary Harbour * Maumturks, major range in Connemara *
Lists of mountains in Ireland 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 ...
*
Lists of mountains and hills in the British Isles The mountains and hills of the British Isles are categorised into various lists based on different combinations of elevation, topographic prominence, prominence, and other criteria such as topographic isolation, isolation. These lists are used f ...
*
List of Marilyns in the British Isles This is a list of Marilyn hills and mountains in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland and surrounding islands and Stack (geology), sea stacks. Lists of mountains and hills in the British Isles#Marilyns, Marilyns are defined as peaks w ...
*
List of Hewitt mountains in England, Wales and Ireland This is a list of Hewitt mountains in England, Wales and Ireland by height. Hewitts are defined as "Hills in England, Wales and Ireland over two thousand" feet in height, the general requirement to be called a "mountain" in the British Isl ...


References


External links


MountainViews: The Irish Mountain Website
Bencollaghduff

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