The Twelve Bens

Thursday 27th March

This was a big walk that encompassed many of the mountains that make up this stunning area, however as it turned out it was a walk with two very different halves. Starting once again from the hostel I walked back into Glencoaghan and climbed up the southern flanks of Derryclare in gorgeous sunshine. I couldn't believe my luck after the bad weather I had endured over the last couple of days, I was finally getting some fantastic weather and it was perfect timing for another attempt at the Twelve Bens. Once I had eventually climbed up to the top of Derryclare I traversed the immensely complex, rocky landscape over to Bencorr where I was confronted by astonishing and awesome scenery in all directions and all bathed in bright sunshine. The subsequent descent to the narrow Mán na bhFonsai (this is most probably the Devil’s Col I had read about) was really tricky and steep, and from above looked nigh on impossible. Fortunately there were a series of ledges that were relatively easy to descend so I managed to reach the bottom without too much difficulty.

The ascent to the top of Bencollaghduff was rocky and prolonged but, in this area, surprisingly straightforward, however the weather was gradually turning bad and by the time I reached the summit it was overcast, cold and windy. After lunch at the summit I walked down to the col that I had visited the day before. The Glencoaghan Horseshoe continues over Benbreen and Bengower, and is a serious mountain walk whoever you are, and whatever the weather. It is easily the best mountain walk in Ireland, but I must admit I was getting a bit fed up with the endlessly complex rocky terrain. Since I had already been over the remaining hills of the horseshoe I crossed over to the Maumina col and struggled up to the top of Benbaun in the increasingly windy conditions. Benbaun is the highest hill in the Twelve Bens but apart from at the summit it is much depleted in rock compared with the previous hills, and in fact all my remaining hills were disappointingly grassy.

Descending over Benfree I seriously considered abandoning the walk as the next two hills, Muckanaught and Bencullagh, were insignificant grassy mounds compared with the mountains I had been up earlier. It was getting very windy and very cold, and I was getting  tired, but the route I had been following as prescribed by Paddy Dillon in “The Mountains of Ireland” directed me over these two, though the only reason I believe they had been added was because they were over 2000 feet rather than on merit. Eventually I did go over them but it was a struggle, and one I will not forgive the guidebook writer as it left me with a very long and boggy descent through grassy sheep country. This was a terrible way to end a great walk as I had to cross a least a mile of grassy fields to a wood, where I had a boggy walk beside the wood for a while, and then once I was at the road I had to walk for a lots of miles back to the hostel. To be fair to the guidebook writer I had not been correctly following his advice. I didn’t realize this at the time – I should have read his guide a little more closely before undertaking the walk – the recommended route was to descend south beside a stream to a wood at the junction with the Owengin River, then I was to take a ‘good track’ through the wood to the road. If only I had gone that way, as when I reached the road it started raining so I had a very wet end to what had started out as being a very sunny walk across some quite delectable mountains.