Following St. Brendan: Up Mt. Brendan, Ireland’s Second Highest

Mount Brendan is the second highest peak in Ireland, and is on the Dingle Peninsula, which is very close to where I have family in Tralee (the county seat of Kerry). Having already climbed Mt. Carrantuohill – Ireland’s highest peak – climbing Mount Brendan was more just for the fun of it than for the bragging rights. This is especially true since climbing Mt. Brendan from the west is little more than a gentle slopped stroll. My mission was to climb up a more difficult route, namely from the east.

Legend has it that St. Brendan climbed the mountain before setting sail for Iceland (or the Americas, depending on who is telling the tale). Although all of south-western Ireland is full of such legends, there is also a lot of actual history in the region as well. For example, not far from the summit of Mount Brendan, there is in fact a sixth century monk’s cell and this was my goal. I wanted a photo of the cell. Having learned my lesson about the dramatic changes in the weather that can happen in Ireland, I was sure to bring all the right gear with me this time.

Although Mt. Brendan is famous for its isolated mountain glacial lakes, the goal was to accomplish this climb in a day, so I brought my Camelbak H.A.W.G. 3-litre hydration pack with me for this one. Irish mountains are really just hills and all of them are coated in thick and heavy grasses that can make walking tricky at time. Further, Mount Brendan is famous for being subjected to severe winds, so it pays to go prepared, though this mountain barely deserves the name and in many respects is just a big hill.

To go up the mountain from the east, you begin just past the easy to find village of Cloghan. Not far from the village is the An Fhaiche car park, where I chained up my bike and set off up the hill. Although the climb was not too tough, it was not the simple stroll that people going up from the west encounter either. There were quite a few steep points where it really came down to hands and knees scrambling to stay on track. Further, once you reach the summit there is a very sharp – ‘knife’s edge’ – ridge that has to be followed to get to the summit of Mt. Brendan. While this was not an incredible difficult climb, there was a lot more to than a gentle stroll and it would not be right for everyone.

As happened when I climbed Carrantuohill, just as I was making my final assent to the top of Brendan, the weather changed dramatically again. This time, of course, I was prepared and quickly slide into my nice, warm all-weather gear. The problem was that this was a passing cloud, but a full storm and the visibility went very low. After finding a crag that provided some shelter – on the way down from the summit – I decided to wait a couple hours and see if it would clear up enough for me to find the monk’s cell. Unfortunately, it did not, and after a while I just went down the gentle western slope and went home. I never did get my own photo of the monk’s cell atop Brendan, but I still have family in Tralee, so perhaps I’ll try again at some point.