UKH

Ireland has some of the best hillwalking on the planet, but few walkers this side of the sea seem to know it. Danny Sercombe and Stephen McAuliffe introduce the key mountain ranges of the Republic and the North.

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Y’know what gents? That’s not bad at all

For a lot more info in vast detail, try mountainviews.ie (says an entirely unbiased member of their committee, who is also an Englishman who moved to Ireland).

We have done a couple of trips hillwalking in the Reeks and Dingle and Beara peninsulas. Corrantoohill (various spellings exist) is a brilliant hill and significantly less crowded than high points in other parts of the British Isles. We liked the walking which was wild, empty and at times quite savage BUT there is a real issue over access that the article doesn't mention. A number of times we were approached by landowners who told us we were not welcome to walk over their land. There is not a public right of way/right to roam in Ireland. Finding safe places to leave a car is difficult and working out how to avoid farms is even harder. One lady told us she had no objection to us walking up her farm track to access a hill  - but her husband would and he was a bit further up. She then added that he was armed with a shotgun. We took the hint.

Another heads up for MV. Nice to see my local stomping ground Wicklow and Dublin mountains but what about the Slieve Blooms?

An exiled Scot.

Many thanks for the endorsement

The Slieve Blooms? Hills ‘for the connoisseur’, shall we say....

Regarding access, yes, it isn’t as straightforward as in Britain. But it’s improving...in ten years of walking over here I’ve been asked to leave once. It pays to do a bit of research in advance (once again cough, mountainviews.ie cough). Oh, and be sure not to park like a pillock. 

Yup, this has been my occasional experience too.

90% of the time friendly welcoming folk but there is an undercurrent of “Get orf my land” intolerance which is quite jarring to a Scottish hill walker. I could also mention the issue of difficulty parking near the mountains at the road end but that’s common in almost every country.

Really, a terrific place to visit but could do a bit better. Given the progress of political change in the country, its a shame that access laws lag behind.

Not had this issue in Ireland (yet). The Collins Guidebooks for Ireland tend to be well researched and access agree'd - so it is worth using these to plan hikes and avoid areas where issues may arise.

These cover most major ranges and all the best peaks and they are really well written.

On a side note: dogs are not welcomed most places though, its best to leave the dogs at home. There have been some well publicized cases of dogs killing sheep recently, so its a hot topic.