Mourne Mountains

The Mourne Mountains, also called the Mournes or the Mountains of Mourne, are a beautiful group of granite mountains in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. They are special because they include Slieve Donard, the highest mountain in all of Ulster, which stands at 850 metres or 2,790 feet tall.

These mountains are so lovely that they are called an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. People have suggested making this place Northern Ireland's first national park. Many people visit the Mournes every year to walk and explore the area.

Part of the land is taken care of by the National Trust. There is a special path called the Mourne Wall that goes across fifteen of the highest points. This wall was built to protect the water area that helps fill the Silent Valley and Ben Crom reservoirs. The wall and the land inside it belong to Northern Ireland Water.

Name

The name Mourne comes from an old Gaelic clan called the Múghdhorna. An older name for this area was Bairrche, which likely means "top" or "peak" in Irish. The Irish name for the mountains is Na Beanna Boirche, meaning "the peaks of the peak district".

Many mountains here have names that start with "Slieve", a word from Irish meaning "mountain". In local English, the sound of this word is often not said as written.

Mountains

The Mourne Wall on Slieve Donard, looking west

On clear days, the Mourne Mountains can be seen from the Isle of Man and Dublin.

Highest summits (*MountainViews Online Database*)
Rank	Name	Irish name	Elevation	Prominence
1	Slieve Donard Highest in Ulster	Sliabh Dónairt ("Domhanghart's mountain")	850 m (2,790 ft)	822 m (2,697 ft)
2	Slieve Commedagh	Sliabh Coimhéideach ("guarding/watching mountain")	767 m (2,516 ft)	180 m (590 ft)
3	Slieve Binnian	Sliabh Binneáin ("mountain of the little peaks")	746 m (2,448 ft)	282 m (925 ft)
4	Slieve Bearnagh	Sliabh Bearnach ("gapped mountain")	739 m (2,425 ft)	304 m (997 ft)
5	Slieve Lamagan	Sliabh Lámhagáin ("crawling/creeping mountain")	704 m (2,310 ft)	197 m (646 ft)
6	Slieve Meelbeg	Sliabh Míol Beag ("small mountain of the beasts")	702 m (2,303 ft)	193 m (633 ft)
7	Slieve Meelmore	Sliabh Míol Mór ("great mountain of the beasts")	680 m (2,230 ft)	109 m (358 ft)
8	Slieve Bearnagh North Tor	—	680 m (2,230 ft)	10 m (33 ft)
9	Slieve Binnian North Top	—	678 m (2,224 ft)	53 m (174 ft)
10	Slieve Muck	Sliabh Muc ("pig mountain")	670 m (2,200 ft)	155 m (509 ft)
11	Chimney Rock Mtn/Slieve Neir	Sliabh an Aoire ("shepherd mountain")	656 m (2,152 ft)	131 m (430 ft)
12	Cove Mountain	—	655 m (2,149 ft)	100 m (330 ft)
13	Slieve Corragh	Sliabh Corrach ("rugged/pointed mountain")	640 m (2,100 ft)	15 m (49 ft)
14	Eagle Mountain	Sliabh an Iolair ("eagle mountain")	638 m (2,093 ft)	263 m (863 ft)
15	Shanlieve	Seanshliabh ("old mountain")	626 m (2,054 ft)	31 m (102 ft)
16	Slieve Loughshannagh	Sliabh Loch Seannach ("fox lake mountain")	617 m (2,024 ft)	104 m (341 ft)
17	Slieve Beg	Sliabh Beag ("little mountain")	596 m (1,955 ft)	41 m (135 ft)
18	Doan	Dún Maol Chobha ("Maol Cobha's fort")	593 m (1,946 ft)	119 m (390 ft)
19	Slievenaglogh (Northern)	Sliabh na gCloch ("mountain of the stones")	586 m (1,923 ft)	41 m (135 ft)
20	Carn Mountain	Sliabh an Chairn ("mountain of the cairn")	585 m (1,919 ft)	50 m (160 ft)
21	Finlieve	Finnshliabh ("white mountain")	579 m (1,900 ft)	20 m (66 ft)
22	Slievemoughanmore	—	560 m (1,840 ft)	154 m (505 ft)
23	Crossone (lesser summit of Slieve Donard)	Cros Eoghain ("Owen's cross")	540 m (1,770 ft)	12 m (39 ft)
24	Pigeon Rock Mtn/Drumlee	Droim Lao ("ridge of the calf")	534 m (1,752 ft)	139 m (456 ft)
25	Ott Mountain	Ucht ("mountain-breast")	527 m (1,729 ft)	32 m (105 ft)
26	Ben Crom	Binn Chrom ("stooped/curved peak/cliff")	526 m (1,726 ft)	81 m (266 ft)
27	Rocky Mountain (Eastern)	Sliabh na gCloch ("mountain of the stones")	524 m (1,719 ft)	60 m (200 ft)
28	Spences Mountain (lesser summit of Slieve Neir)	—	515 m (1,690 ft)	Unknown
29	Cock Mountain/Slievahilly	Sliabh an Choiligh ("cock mountain")	504 m (1,654 ft)	130 m (430 ft)
30	Butter Mountain	Sliabh an Ime ("butter mountain")	500 m (1,600 ft)	95 m (312 ft)

Other features

The Mourne Mountains have many interesting places to visit. One of these is the Mourne Wall, a long stone wall built to protect water supplies for the city of Belfast. Work on the wall started in 1904 and ended in 1922.

There are also beautiful forests in the area, such as Tollymore Forest Park, which has walking trails and views of the mountains and sea. Other forests include Donard Forest and Rostrevor Forest.

Mourne Wall on Slieve Bearnagh

The mountains also have several reservoirs, like Silent Valley Reservoir, which gives water to many people in the region. Other reservoirs include Ben Crom and Spelga Reservoirs.

Flora and fauna

The Mourne Mountains have many plants, like heathers and gorse. You can find three kinds of heather: cross-leaved heath, bell heather, and common heather. There are two types of gorse: common gorse and western gorse. Other plants in the area include common cottongrass, roseroot, harebell, marsh St John's-wort, wild thyme, wood sorrel, and heath spotted orchid.

Sheep often graze in the higher parts of the mountains. The area is home to many birds, such as the raven, peregrine falcon, wren, buzzard, meadow pipit, grey wagtail, stonechat, and snipe. The golden eagle used to live here, but has not been seen in the Mournes since 1836.

Recreation

Tors on Slieve Binnian

The Mourne Mountains are a great place for people to hike and see beautiful views. You can also walk through forests and along beaches, ride bikes, or try rock climbing. Many people choose the Mournes for walking and hiking.

The area is popular for special walking challenges, like the Mourne Wall challenge, which involves climbing 7 of the tallest mountains. These activities are fun for adventure lovers. Many people from Northern Ireland visit, along with some from nearby places and other countries. Most visitors come for just a day and bring a few friends.

Conservation

In 1993, people helped the National Trust buy land in the Mourne Mountains. This land included parts of Slieve Donard, the tallest mountain, and Slieve Commedagh, the second tallest.

There is a plan to make the Mourne Mountains Northern Ireland's first national park. Some people worry about this because the land is private and many farmers live there. They also worry about changes to their community.

Gorse burning

A gorse fire in the Mournes, 1983

In the Mourne Mountains, people sometimes burn gorse to clear land for sheep. But sometimes these fires get out of control and become big wildfires.

In the past, some people burned gorse without enough care, which hurt the environment.

Today, wildfires happen each year, mostly started on purpose by farmers or others. These fires happen mainly in April and May. They can damage homes where animals live and take many years to heal. The fires can also be dangerous for people and need help from firefighters. Farmers are allowed to burn gorse, but they must follow special rules to keep everyone safe.

Wind farm proposal

In 2015, a company called ABO Wind wanted to build a wind farm in the Mourne Mountains. They planned to put up eight very tall turbines, each 142 metres high, along with roads and buildings. These turbines would be some of the tallest structures in Ireland. The company said they could give electricity to many homes, but many people did not want it. The area is very special and beautiful, called an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. People were worried it would hurt the animals and plants there. Some local people formed a group to stop the wind farm. In 2020, local leaders asked for a public meeting to decide what to do.

Popular culture

The Mourne Mountains have appeared in many stories, songs, and movies. An old Irish poem called Buile Shuibhne talks about a character named Suibhne who stays in the mountains. The mountains inspired a famous song from 1896 by Percy French called "The Mountains of Mourne." John Lennon mentioned the mountains in one of his songs, and they were a filming place for the TV show Game of Thrones. The beautiful scenery also inspired the writer C. S. Lewis when he wrote The Chronicles of Narnia books.

Helicopter crash

On 23 October 2010, a helicopter called an AgustaWestland AW109 was flying from Enniskillen Airport to Caernarfon Airport in Wales. Sadly, the helicopter crashed into a mountain called Shanlieve because the pilot made a mistake in thick fog. Everyone on board did not survive.