Mount Gable Walk Joyce County
Mount Gable is only a hill, but it has the aspect of a mountain. It occupies a strategic postition in Joyce County, between the centralplains of Ireland and the great mountain ranges of the west. to the north is Lough Mask, while to the south is Lough Corrib. Views from the summit are wonderfully varied; a reflection of the position of Mount Gable. The ascent can be conveniently started from the village of Clonbur, using a variety of quiet country roads, hill tracks and paths.
- Grade: Moderate
- Distance: 13 km
- Time: 5 hours (including an hour for lunch)
- Start & Finish: Clonbur
How to get there
By car:
The village of Clonbur is on a narrow neck of land between Lough Corrib and Lough Mask. The R345 road runs through the village, linking ultimatly with the main N59 road at Leenane and the main N84 road at Ballinrobe and Headford. Clonbur is roughly halfway between Galway city and the large town of Westport.
By bus:
Bus Éireann table number 420 serves Clonbur daily in the summer, but less frequently at other times of the year. Other services reach the nearby village of Cong.
Necessities
Boots as the slopes and summit of Mount Gable can be boggy; waterproofs as the summit is exposed in wet weather; food and drink as there is nothing apart from what you find in Clonbur.
Notes
The walk over Mount Gable is fairly straightforward, but you do need to be careful if walking over the summit in mist. There are some good tracks and paths, but some areas are boggy, while others are steep, rugged and pathless.
The village of Clonbur is on a narrow neck of land between Lough Corrib and Lough Mask. The R345 road runs through the village, linking ultimatly with the main N59 road at Leenane and the main N84 road at Ballinrobe and Headford. Clonbur is roughly halfway between Galway city and the large town of Westport.
By bus:
Bus Éireann table number 420 serves Clonbur daily in the summer, but less frequently at other times of the year. Other services reach the nearby village of Cong.
Necessities
Boots as the slopes and summit of Mount Gable can be boggy; waterproofs as the summit is exposed in wet weather; food and drink as there is nothing apart from what you find in Clonbur.
Notes
The walk over Mount Gable is fairly straightforward, but you do need to be careful if walking over the summit in mist. There are some good tracks and paths, but some areas are boggy, while others are steep, rugged and pathless.
Information
When Thomas Joyce left Wales in the 14th century he settled in Connacht, where his son married an O´Flaherty girl. The Joyce clan was founded, and they acquired a territory that bears their name to this day - Joyce County. Bounded on the north by Lough Mask and on the south by Lough Corrib, Joyce County extends westward into the Maum Valley and embraces a number of little known hills. Mount Gable is one of these hills, though its name seldom appears on maps, and the Ordnance Survey call it Benlevy.
When you start walking through the countryside you´ll find waymarks posts have been planted at some of the road junctions and on paths around Lough Coolin, but the route described below only follows the waymarks from time to time. There is a fine old bog road climbing onto Mount Gable and you can descend to Lough Coolin afterwards to link with the waymarked trail.
When the Guinness family held Ashford Castle near Cong, they had their own private carriage ride across country, around Lough Coolin, and back home. It was a remarkable road, crossing bridges over the public highways, rather than using them. There were also screens of trees along some stretches, shielding users of the carriage ride from observing the local peasantry at work. You´ll be able to follow part of the route around Lough Coolin, though it has been largely overwhelmed by bog and heather and hasn´t been used for over a century.
While Mount Gable isn´t a particularly high hill, it does have some step and rugged slopes, and is quite boogy in places. As the crest is braod and featureless, you should exercise care if you walk over it in mist. If the weather turns out to be against you, it is still worth considering a short walk araound Lough Coolin, which is fully waymarked. Most of the time you´ll have this area to yourself, but qccasionally you´ll find groups of youngsters out walking from the nearby Petersburg Outdoor Education Centre.
When you start walking through the countryside you´ll find waymarks posts have been planted at some of the road junctions and on paths around Lough Coolin, but the route described below only follows the waymarks from time to time. There is a fine old bog road climbing onto Mount Gable and you can descend to Lough Coolin afterwards to link with the waymarked trail.
When the Guinness family held Ashford Castle near Cong, they had their own private carriage ride across country, around Lough Coolin, and back home. It was a remarkable road, crossing bridges over the public highways, rather than using them. There were also screens of trees along some stretches, shielding users of the carriage ride from observing the local peasantry at work. You´ll be able to follow part of the route around Lough Coolin, though it has been largely overwhelmed by bog and heather and hasn´t been used for over a century.
While Mount Gable isn´t a particularly high hill, it does have some step and rugged slopes, and is quite boogy in places. As the crest is braod and featureless, you should exercise care if you walk over it in mist. If the weather turns out to be against you, it is still worth considering a short walk araound Lough Coolin, which is fully waymarked. Most of the time you´ll have this area to yourself, but qccasionally you´ll find groups of youngsters out walking from the nearby Petersburg Outdoor Education Centre.
The Walk
Map
Park in any convenient space in Clonbur and you´re ready to start the walk. There is a junction of three roads beside a telephone box, and you´ll find a signpost there.
1. Leave Clonbur by following the R345 road signposted for Corr na Mona. You pass a couple of shops, pubs and restaurants if you need any food or dink for lunch pack. The road rises from the village and you´ll see Mount Gable´s bulky shape off to the right. A narrow road on the right is signposted for Carrowkeel and there is also a large sign at this junction advertising Burk´s Pub back in Clonbur (10 mins).
2. Follow the narrow road uphill in the direction of Mount Gable, passing a few houses and farms. You´ll see a waymark post with an arrow directing you to the right. The road dips down and up, then you reach another minor road junction where there is a signpost for Ballard. A waymark post points to the right, which would lead you to Lough Coolin, but you ahould turn left for Ballard (35 mins).
3. As the narrow road rises across the slopes of Mount Gable, there are views southwards across the island-studded Lough Corrib. There are a few houses along the way, and you should look out for a ladder stile beside a gate on the right. This is the key to the ascent of Mount Gable (50 mins).
4. Follow a grassy ribbon of a track uphill, watching carefully for its course whenever beds of rushes obscure the line. There are a couple of zig-zag sections, and some parts of the old track are buttressed with stonework. It was obviously an important track in its time as there are so many signs of engineering. but maps generally only show the lower part ofit. The track finally reaches the high crest of Mount Gable, so that you can see both Lough Corrib and Lough Mask (1 hr 20 mins).
Note the short, low lengths of drystone walling dotted araound the slopes of Mount Gable. These little walls are common in the area and were once used to shelter stacks of turf cut from the blanket bog on the mountain. The turf stacks were usually tied down with nets to stop them being blown away by gales in such exposed locations.
5. By swinging left and walking along the crest of Mount Gable, you pass a cairn on a hummock. In mist you could easily convince yourself that this was the summit, but in fact you need to keep walking along the boogy, hummocky crest, passing a pool of water and aiming for a concrete trig point at 416m (1,370ft) on the true summit (1 hr 40 mins).
Beyond the head of Lough Corrib are the Maum Turk Mountains, with peeps beyond to more distant mountains in Connemara. The vast, bleak plateau of Maumtrasna gives way to the broad expanse of Lough Mask.
If you wish to have lunch on the summit, then the time allowance given for the walk includes an hour on the summit. In the event of foul weather, you´d be better continuing with the walk and break for lunch in a more sheltered spot beside Lough Coolin.
6. Leave the summit trig point and head for a nearby cairn where you can overlook Lough Coolin. Pick a way downhill on the steep and rugged slope. Aim for the shore of Lough Coolin, but stay on the grassy slopes and avoid any rock outcrops on the way down. A track on the lower slopes leads to the shore of Lough Coolin. Head for a huddle of ruined cottages off the left (3 hrs).
Looking round the steep slopes above Lough Coolin, in the right kind of light, you can spot the parallel lines of old potato ridges, some of them on very steep and high ground. The old ridges are mute testimony to the huge population Ireland boasted up to the Great Famine. The cottages were abandoned at the same time.
7. There is a rugged path araound the shore of Lough Coolin. At first it is enclosed by thumbled drystone walls, then it continues through bracken and heather. Towards the foot of the lake the old track is a clear and obvious line, but in places it has been overwhelmed by bog and is covered in squelchy sphagnum moss. You can either walk alongside the outflowing river, or cross two stony causeways at the foot of the lake, then cross back the river to continue (3 hrs 15 mins).
8. A good track continues downstream, drifting away from the river beside a patchy conifer planation. Beyond a gate, a narrow tarmac road runs downhill, passing a few houses and a roadside well. The road is very quiet and is actually grass-grown in places. When you reach a junction at the bottom, a waymark post points left, but you should turn right instead (4 hrs).
9. At the next junction, turn left to reach a wider road, then turn right. This road carries a bit more traffic and leads past a Gaelic Football ground and cemetery, then is flanked by high stone walls as it reaches Clonbur. There are a handful of places offering food and drink around the village (5 hrs).
1. Leave Clonbur by following the R345 road signposted for Corr na Mona. You pass a couple of shops, pubs and restaurants if you need any food or dink for lunch pack. The road rises from the village and you´ll see Mount Gable´s bulky shape off to the right. A narrow road on the right is signposted for Carrowkeel and there is also a large sign at this junction advertising Burk´s Pub back in Clonbur (10 mins).
2. Follow the narrow road uphill in the direction of Mount Gable, passing a few houses and farms. You´ll see a waymark post with an arrow directing you to the right. The road dips down and up, then you reach another minor road junction where there is a signpost for Ballard. A waymark post points to the right, which would lead you to Lough Coolin, but you ahould turn left for Ballard (35 mins).
3. As the narrow road rises across the slopes of Mount Gable, there are views southwards across the island-studded Lough Corrib. There are a few houses along the way, and you should look out for a ladder stile beside a gate on the right. This is the key to the ascent of Mount Gable (50 mins).
4. Follow a grassy ribbon of a track uphill, watching carefully for its course whenever beds of rushes obscure the line. There are a couple of zig-zag sections, and some parts of the old track are buttressed with stonework. It was obviously an important track in its time as there are so many signs of engineering. but maps generally only show the lower part ofit. The track finally reaches the high crest of Mount Gable, so that you can see both Lough Corrib and Lough Mask (1 hr 20 mins).
Note the short, low lengths of drystone walling dotted araound the slopes of Mount Gable. These little walls are common in the area and were once used to shelter stacks of turf cut from the blanket bog on the mountain. The turf stacks were usually tied down with nets to stop them being blown away by gales in such exposed locations.
5. By swinging left and walking along the crest of Mount Gable, you pass a cairn on a hummock. In mist you could easily convince yourself that this was the summit, but in fact you need to keep walking along the boogy, hummocky crest, passing a pool of water and aiming for a concrete trig point at 416m (1,370ft) on the true summit (1 hr 40 mins).
Beyond the head of Lough Corrib are the Maum Turk Mountains, with peeps beyond to more distant mountains in Connemara. The vast, bleak plateau of Maumtrasna gives way to the broad expanse of Lough Mask.
If you wish to have lunch on the summit, then the time allowance given for the walk includes an hour on the summit. In the event of foul weather, you´d be better continuing with the walk and break for lunch in a more sheltered spot beside Lough Coolin.
6. Leave the summit trig point and head for a nearby cairn where you can overlook Lough Coolin. Pick a way downhill on the steep and rugged slope. Aim for the shore of Lough Coolin, but stay on the grassy slopes and avoid any rock outcrops on the way down. A track on the lower slopes leads to the shore of Lough Coolin. Head for a huddle of ruined cottages off the left (3 hrs).
Looking round the steep slopes above Lough Coolin, in the right kind of light, you can spot the parallel lines of old potato ridges, some of them on very steep and high ground. The old ridges are mute testimony to the huge population Ireland boasted up to the Great Famine. The cottages were abandoned at the same time.
7. There is a rugged path araound the shore of Lough Coolin. At first it is enclosed by thumbled drystone walls, then it continues through bracken and heather. Towards the foot of the lake the old track is a clear and obvious line, but in places it has been overwhelmed by bog and is covered in squelchy sphagnum moss. You can either walk alongside the outflowing river, or cross two stony causeways at the foot of the lake, then cross back the river to continue (3 hrs 15 mins).
8. A good track continues downstream, drifting away from the river beside a patchy conifer planation. Beyond a gate, a narrow tarmac road runs downhill, passing a few houses and a roadside well. The road is very quiet and is actually grass-grown in places. When you reach a junction at the bottom, a waymark post points left, but you should turn right instead (4 hrs).
9. At the next junction, turn left to reach a wider road, then turn right. This road carries a bit more traffic and leads past a Gaelic Football ground and cemetery, then is flanked by high stone walls as it reaches Clonbur. There are a handful of places offering food and drink around the village (5 hrs).