Mount Errigal/Donegal, Ireland
Location: Mount Errigal/Donegal Ireland
Elevation: 2,464 feet
Note: The climbing of Mount Errigal is a truly beautiful and rustic challenge, with as dramatic a peak as any in the world, if not all of Ireland. Although Errigal is a ‘small mountain’ by international standards, it’s presence is absolutely dominant, blasting out of the rocky Glenveagh Mountain range.
The granite stones of Errigal are so numerous that from a distance the mountain seems snow-covered, in July. The most utilized approach on the eastern face of the mountain has no crafted trail; one must traverse the same elements of watery rushes and mud at the base of the mountain as the ancient Celtic tribes had done for thousands of years. Working your way along the stream that carves its way through the rock, a climber must reach the beginning of the granite trail that winds to the summit. There are a few anthropologically significant stones that are without any doubt engineered, aligning to Mount Muckish to the north, along with other peaks to the north west. Similar non-arbitrary stones like this one below, cut to align to peaks in the distance, can be found, for example, on Monument Mountain over 2000 miles away on the North American continent in Massachusetts, and is referenced on this site.
It is clear that in the first era of cultural interaction with the landscape, perhaps 10,000 years ago, or more, a culture existed which was capable of cutting stones to lend significance to certain vantage points on the mountains, connecting the peaks of each range, like the stars of astronomical sets. The Mourne Range, south of Belfast, is a prime example of this peak-to-peak stone alignment and configuring as well. The peak at Errigal is breathtaking; Celtic peaks have a beauty all their own that is distinct due to the lack of tree’s in the landscape, bringing forth an unobstructed vision of the valleys and ranges beyond. The peak at Errigal is without a doubt one of the single finest examples of the Celtic summit one could hope to find.