Mullaghmeen Forest
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Mullaghmeen (), at , is the
county top 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 ...
for
Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...
in Ireland, and is the lowest county top in Ireland. Mullaghmeen is located in the Mullaghmeen Forest, known for having the largest planted
beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...
forest in Europe.


Geography

Mullaghmeen lies in the northern tip of
County Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...
, just inside the border with
County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
, and looks into the northern
Lough Sheelin Lough Sheelin (), in standard Irish language, Irish ''Loch Síleann'', is a limestone freshwater lough (lake) in central Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The lake is a part of the River Inny (Leinster), River Inny course, and ultimately of the Riv ...
, which forms the border with
County Cavan County Cavan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...
. The hill is 16 km north of the town of
Castlepollard Castlepollard ( or ''Cionn Toirc'') is a village in north County Westmeath, Ireland. It lies west of Lough Lene and northeast of Lough Derravaragh and Mullingar. Name The name ''Castlepollard'' comes from the name of a castle or fortified m ...
. At , the summit of Mullaghmeen is the highest point in County Westmeath, however, it is the lowest
county top 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 ...
in Ireland. The soil of Mullaghmeen is limestone, and in 1936 the
Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
decided it would be suited to the planting of
deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
trees, and created the 400 ha Mullaghmeen Forest, the largest planted beech forest in
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
.


Hill walking

Mullaghmeen is described as a difficult mountain to find, and while its summit is of modest height, it is well-regarded as part of one of the several 2–3 hour circa 6 mile forest loop-walks through the Mullaghmeen Forest. Most start at the car-park just beyond the entrance to Mullaghmeen Forest (at ) and take in the summit of Mullaghmeen as well as other landmarks, such as the ''Booley Hut'', the ''Famine Garden'', the ''Flax Pits'', and the ''Woodland Arboretum''.


See also

*
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 ...
*
List of Irish counties by highest point This is a list of Irish counties by their highest point. These are most commonly known as county high points but are also sometimes referred to as county tops and county peaks. There are 32 counties in Ireland but in the case of 10 counties, ma ...
*
List of mountains of the British Isles by height This article provides access to lists of mountains in Britain and Ireland by height and by prominence. (See Lists of mountains below.) Height and prominence are the most important metrics for the classifications of mountains by the UIAA; with ...


References


External links


MountainViews: The Irish Mountain Website
Mullaghmeen

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 ...

Ordnance Survey Ireland ("OSI") Online Map ViewerLogainm: Placenames Database of Ireland
{{Mountains and hills of Leinster Mountains and hills of County Westmeath Highest points of Irish counties