Gnomon's Guide

This is a walk in the Dublin Mountains which manages to get to the tops of three mountains without climbing very much. It does this by starting in the highest village in Ireland, Glencullen. It is a linear walk, starting in one location and ending in another, so you will need two cars, unless you can persuade someone to drop you at the start and collect you at the end. The walk is a little under 11km in length. It follows the signposted Dublin Mountains Way for all of its length.

Although the total ascent along the walk is xxxm, there's only one steep uphill bit, so it is suitable for people of moderate fitness. It is not suitable for wheelchairs or child-buggies. The path is rough underfoot, but should be easily manageable by anybody capable of walking the distance. There is some mud so stout shoes are needed.

All the distances in square brackets are from the start of the walk. If you have a smartphone that can track the distance you have walked, it will make following these instructions easier.

What you'll see along the walk

Vegetation: some farming land at the start of the walk; planted confierous forest; open moorland. Wildlife: although you're only a few kilometres from Dublin, there is plenty of wildlife living in the mountains and you will quite possibly see deer. Less common are red squirrels, hares and rabbits. You'll also see farm sheep in the first part of the walk and newborn lambs if you're walking in April.

Views - because the walk visits the tops of three mountains, there are plenty of good views.

Archaeology - there are two different ancient artefacts along the route: a wedge tomb and a cairn, and a strange piece of 19th-century archaeology which looks like an ancient monument.

Getting to the Start

1. Drive to Pine Forest (53.221998°N 6.217663°W) in two cars:

From Yellow House pub in Rathfarnham, take the road south through Edmondstown and Rockbrook. After about 8km, ascends very steeply, then does a sharp bend to the right and crosses a bridge. Immediately after this there is a junction. Turn left. The entrance to the Pine Forest car park is on the left after about 50m. Note the time the car park closes on the sign. If you're not going to be back in time, be sure to park outside the gate. Otherwise, go in and park one car here.

2. Drive to Glencullen (53.221998°N 6.217663°W) in the second car.

Turn left as you come out of the Pine Forest car park. After about 3km, you come to Glencullen. Go straight through the crossroads. Park in the overflow car park to Johnny Fox's pub on the right after about 100m.

Note: the owners of the pub don't like walkers using their main car park but have said they've no problem with using the overflow car park.

Glencullen to Three Rock

The village of Glencullen is supposedly the highest village in Ireland. The pub Johnny Fox's claims to be the highest in Ireland but admits that there are two other pubs which are higher - one, the 'Ponderosa', in Northern Ireland and the other, the 'Top of Coom' in Kerry which only opens occasionally.

[0km]

Turn left as you leave the car park. If you're going to use your smartphone to track distance, set it to zero now. The entire route is marked with Dublin Mountains Way signposts which are wooden posts with a yellow walker and an arrow. This guide will describe the route in detail in case you miss a post.

Observe the normal rule for walking on roads with no footpath - walk on the right, facing oncoming traffic and walk in single file. Turn right at the crossroads. The road climbs through farmland, with a golf course on the left.

After about a kilometre, you reach the top of the hill and start to descend. At [1.3km], turn left off the road. There is a large metal stile across the fence. You are now walking on private land with permission of the owner. After another 100m, there is a second stile into a forest and you are back on to state-owned land for the rest of the walk.

The path bends around to the left and then reaches a spot where there is a beautiful view to the south. Just after this, at [1.95km] you will see a small clearing in the trees to the right - take a detour to see this: it is an ancient tomb known as a wedge tomb, dating back to about 2000 BC. Originally it would have had a roof on it, but now it looks like a long, narrow grave - its local name is the Giant's Grave.

Back on the forest road, watch out for the left turn at [2.38km]. You leave the forest road and turn onto a smaller track. At [2.60km], you turn right onto another forest road, which takes you all the way to the top of Three Rock Mountain. This is named after the three large outcrops of rock on top. You'll meet the first of these rocks at [4.25km]. Unfortunately, this is also a local centre for all the telecommunications networks serving Dublin - the mountain is covered in mobile phone masts.

The views from Three Rock are stupendous, both to the north and to the east.

Three Rock to the Fairy Castle

Three Rock Mountain isn't really a separate mountain; it is a shoulder of the bigger Two Rock Mountains. This is named after two more outcrops, but these are hard to find and you won't see them on this walk. The most distinctive feature of Two Rock Mountain is the lump on the top. This is known as the 'Fairy Castle'.

Passing the rocks of Three Rock, the forest road starts to descend. Turn left at the crossroads [4.56km] and you start to climb straight up towards the Fairy Castle, with a forest on your right and open moorland on your left. This is the main climb of the walk, so take it easy and don't rush. As the path climbs, it reaches the top of the forest and it is now open moorland on both sides.

Eventually you reach the Fairy Castle [5.6km]. This is a small artificial hill made in prehistoric times, with a small cairn (a pile of rocks) on top. The cairn is recent in construction. The hill is believed to be an ancient passage tomb - a form of grave used in the New Stone Age (4000 - 2000BC). It has never been excavated, but if it is similar to other passage tombs, then somewhere this is a stone lined passage leading into a central chamber where the bodies of the dead were placed.

Because the top of the mountain is liable to flooding, a wooden walkway has been built around the hill - it's best to stay on this to avoid damaging the ground, but you are welcome to climb to the top of the Fairy Castle.

Fairy Castle to Pine Forest

The route descends the southwest side of the mountain. At [6.22km] it joins with the Wicklow Way walking trail. Continue straight on. When you reach the forest, watch out for the junction at [7.43km] - the Wicklow Way route continues straight on, but you must turn right into the forest. This is clearly marked with a Dublin Mountains Way sign.

For the next kilometre, you are walking along the ridge of Tibradden Mountain. At [8.42km] you'll see a strange structure on the left side - this is a small hill with a stone-lined, hollowed out centre. In the middle is a paving slab with a spiral carved onto it. Although this looks like an ancient monument, it is fact a 19th-century construction on the site of an ancient monument. After the archaeologists had dug out the ancient artefacts and brought them to the National Museum in Kildare Street, Dublin, they built this artificial monument on the site.

The path now starts to descend steeply and soon enters the Pine Forest. In the lower stretches of the forest, you will see lots of people climbing in the trees and hanging out of ropes. This is the Zipit zip-wire location. At the bottom of the descent you come to the car park and your car waiting for you.

Since you now have to drive back to Glencullen to collect the other car, you can consider getting food in Johnny Fox's pub, but it can be packed at weekends. Other good spots for food nearby are the Farmer Brown's pub in Kilternan and the Step Inn in Stepaside. There's also a good pizza restaurant, Quattro, about 100m from the Step Inn.