Posts tagged Co Antrim
Northern Ireland County Tops

The Historic County Tops of Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland Historic County Top Road Trip

The idea for our Grand Tour of Northern Ireland came from how to solve the challenge of doing all 6 N.I. County Tops whilst making the trip "wife-friendly". Timi (the wife) loves travel as much as I do, enjoys trekking (to a point) but is not fond of mud and cold. We've learnt that the best combination is to do the adventure thing in the day but stay at nice places at night. A much as I could sleep in a tree, that's never a good option for Timi.

The plan was to start in Belfast, do some sight-seeing then take an anti-clockwise tour of the six counties, ticking off the County Tops. The anti-clockwise option works well as Trostan is a relatively straightforward warm-up and the others build up to the highest peak, Slieve Donard, at the end. In order to get the right balance of adventure and rest, we did no more than 1 walk per day and built in a day off between Trostan and Sawel Mountain to see the Giant's Causeway and Carrick-a-rede.

Driving Distances:

  • Belfast to Trostan: 46 miles

  • Trostan to Sawel Mountain: 50 miles

  • Sawel Mountain to Cuilcagh: 70 miles

  • Cuilcagh to Slieve Gullion: 80 miles

  • Slieve Gullion to Slieve Donard: 36 miles

  • Slieve Donard to Belfast: 40 miles

  • Total Trip: 322 miles

Driving distances above show direct routes between main stops. The map below shows a longer road-trip including a visit to Giant's Causeway and Carrick-a-rede and an overnight stay in Donegal between Cuilcagh and Slieve Gullion.

Present-Day Northern Ireland Super-Councils High Points

In 2015, Northern Ireland underwent a significant restructuring of its local government system, reducing the number of councils from 26 to 11. These newly formed larger councils, often dubbed "super councils," were established with the aim of enhancing efficiency, innovation, and cost-effectiveness in local governance. The reform also transferred additional responsibilities to the councils, including planning, local economic development, off-street car parking, and community investment, which were previously handled by the central government. This decentralization of power was intended to empower local councils to play a more prominent role in shaping their communities and responding to local needs.

Here are the highest points of the Northern Ireland Super Councils. The source of this list is Peakbagger.com. Note that other sources, including Wikipedia, show different high points. Please contact me if you have any information relavant to updating this list and I will donate £1 per correction to one of my Causes.

  • Slieve Donard. Newry City, Mourne and Down District. 850 metres.

  • Sawel Mountain. Derry City and Strabane District. 678 metres.

  • Cuilcagh. Fermanagh and Omagh District. 666 metres.

  • Mullaghaneany. Causeway Coast and Glens District. 627 metres.

  • Oughtmore. Mid-Ulster District. 569 metres.

  • Slievenanee. Mid and East Antrim District. 543 metres.

  • Divis. Belfast City. 478 metres.

  • Divis - West Slope. Antrim and Newtownabbey District. 455 metres.

  • Carrigatuke. Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon District. 365 metres.

  • Collin. Lisburn City and Castlereagh District. 328 metres.

  • Cairngaver. North Down and Ards District. 214 metres.

The highest 3 mountains in the super-council list (Slieve Donard, Sawel Mountain and Cuilcagh) are also Historic County Tops. Trostan is the Historic County Top of County Antrim but is now in the Causeway Coast and Glens District of which Mullaghaneany is the highest point. Slieve Gullion is the Historic County Top of County Armagh but is now in the Newry City, Mourne and Down District of which Slieve Donard is the highest point.

More High Points

Richard gowerTrek, UK County Tops, Mountain, Trig Pillar, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Co Armagh, Co Fermanagh, Co Down, Co Antrim, Co Londonderry, Co Tyrone, Irish County TopsComment
Trostan: Antrim County Top

Emerald woods on the descent from Trostan

Significance: Highest peak in County Antrim (Historic County Top), Antrim Coast and Glens National Landscape High Point
Member of: Marilyn
Parent Peak: TBC.
Nearest Higher Neighbour: Oughtmore
Elevation: 550m
Date climbed: May 1st 2016
Coordinates: 55.0458° N, 6.1553° W

 

Route Start / End: Layby near Essathohan Bridge on Ballyeamon Road
Route Distance: 9.8 km (6 miles)
Route Elevation Change: +/- 724m
Subsidiary tops on route: None
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): Moyle Way
Other routes touched (cycle): None
OS Trig Pillar: TP7349 - Trostan
Map: OS Northern Ireland Activity Maps: Glens of Antrim
Guidebook: The UK's County Tops (Jonny Muir)
Links: Wikipedia (County Antrim), Wikipedia (Trostan), Peakbagger, Hillbagging

 

This trek was part of a tour of the Historic County Tops of Northern Ireland that Timea and I did in May 2016.

Our first walk was Trostan, about an hour North of Belfast in the centre of County Antrim. The weather was fairly good and the rain held off till the last 20 minutes. Even so, the ground was saturated and most of the route was through a peaty swamp. We followed the Moyle Way, initially along the right hand side of a stream to a waterfall and an old stone bridge. We turned left across the bridge, following a track for about 2 hundred metres, then turned right to follow another track up though the forest. This took us a little off course which we needed to correct once we got above the tree line. On the way back we discovered that the better route up would have been to have continued straight up past the stone bridge, following the course of the stream.

Once we were back on track after the forest, we relied on the GPS for navigation and the trek to the summit was mostly a matter of finding the driest and least bumpy route. The actual summit is enclosed by a fence with one dilapidated style that takes some skill to cross without impaling yourself. Once past the fence, we headed towards the 2 cairns and the summit Trig Point was very close-by and easy to see.

The descent was much more enjoyable as we took a more direct route down through the forest, following the stream. The colours of the moss covered trees were amazing, showing why they call this place the Emerald Isle. The path next to the stream was very boggy, but added to a fun walk down with many stops for photos.

From the lay-by where we parked we continued on towards Cushendun and picked up the Tor Point Scenic Drive. This is a off-shoot of the Causeway Scenic Route and takes in some dramatic cliff top lanes overlooking the North East Coast. The route passes through Ballycastle and a collection of National Trust properties, before reaching the Giants Causeway near Bushmills.

Richard gowerTrek, UK County Tops, Trig Pillar, Northern Ireland, Co AntrimComment