GO WALK:MOUNTAINS have always been special places. Down the ages we have loaded them with legend and credited them with powers of spirituality and magic. It's the enigmatic quality of these high places, their prominence and permanence against our transience and triviality that appears to draw us to them.
Nowhere is this truer than among north Tipperary’s gentle Arra Mountains where humans have lived and farmed close to the summits for countless generations. And the compact Arras remain people-friendly, with amenable slopes and foot-friendly trails that irresistibly beckon the rambler. A rich concentration of historic artifacts, mythological resonances and evidence of previous commercial exploitation awaits those who merely take the time to stop and stare.
Having latterly admired the Arras from afar for too long, I returned to these insouciant hills by starting my walk from a viewing point known as “The Lookout”) that offered an opportunity to savour views over island-laden Lough Derg. From here the waymarkers for the Lough Derg Way led through serenely bucolic fields to reach a road where the arrows pointed me to the right for about 600m.
Soon after, it was with a feeling of regressing in time, that I went left and upwards on a rustic lane that meandered through a disused slate quarry, a reminder that these hills were once a commercial hub. Before the sun set on the natural slate industry in the 20th century, slate production employed up to 500 with 15,000 tons of product exported annually through Killaloe.
Upwards now over a metal bridge and then along a fence and later a low bank to reach the top of Laghtea. Locally known as Cloneybrien, the summit bears the remains of a cross that was erected in the 1930s and subsequently destroyed by lighting. A large Millennium Cross replaced it in 2005.
Next, descending along the Lough Derg Way, I reached an asphalt road and went right about 500m until the waymarkers pointed left and uphill.
Where the path left the road a conclave of large stones formed a rather unkempt historic site that is well signposted but rather less well maintained. This is “the Graves of the Leinstermen”, reputedly dating from Brian Boru’s era when the hero of Clontarf showed himself to everyone’s idea of a father-in-law from hell: in the 10th century his soldiers allegedly massacred the King of Leinster and his entourage here as he travelled to request the hand of Brian’s daughter in marriage.
Myths tend to rearrange facts and this site is actually of Bronze Age origin and so pre-dates Brian Boru by about 2,000 years.
Next it was upward mobility by a breath-robbing, zigzag path on Tountinna (hill of the wave) – named after a biblical-style flood that, according to the ancient Book of Invasions, drowned all the first Irish inhabitants. However, there was one survivor named Fionntán who cannily took refuge high on Tountinna and thereby lived to recount the tale. I initially find the summit experience on Tountinna (462m) lessened by huge, micro-link repeater masts that dominate the skyline and must resolutely look past these intrusive artifacts to savour the vista. This time I was well compensated, for the scene was a true photographer’s dream offering views across the aquamarine waters of serene Lough Derg to a shifting marriage of colour on the Clare hills beyond.
Now it was onwards along the Lough Derg Way until a small lake (Black Lough) appeared right. Abandoning the waymarkers I went left towards yet another communication tower and then left again to follow a broad path skirting a forest.
After a few hundred metres I crossed a bank on the right to enter woodland and traverse a pleasant sylvan path leading mostly downhill. At a three-way junction it was left and along a forest road to a similar junction where it was left once again.
Continuing to descend with disused slate quarries and artificial lakes industrialising the horizon, I reached a metalled road. Here it was left for a few hundred metres to a junction and left again and up past several heaps of broken slate to reach the entrance to the operational Killoran Quarries.
At this point the Tarmac gave way to a lane leading to another junction. Going left here I soon rejoined my route of ascent where a sign said “Millennium Cross 1200m”. Now it was just a sedate ramble over Laghtea and along the Lough Derg Way to my start point at The Lookout.
At the Arra Mountains, enjoys stunning views of Lough Derg and debunks myths about Brian Boru’s legacy of violence in the area
Route: Arra Mountains loop
Start pointFrom Nenagh follow the R494 through the village of Portroe to reach the prominent viewing point and parking place known as "The Lookout". Your walk begins from here.
SuitabilityThe route has one steepish section but generally it presents few objective dangers or navigational difficulties. Nevertheless, walkers should have good footwear and carry warm clothing.
TimeAllow four hours to complete the route.
MapOSI Discovery Series, sheet 59