| Benbulbin | |
|---|---|
 Benbulbin's northern side on a cloudy day. | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 526 m (1,726 ft) |
| Listing | Marilyn |
| Coordinates | 54°22′N8°28′W / 54.367°N 8.467°W /54.367; -8.467 |
| Naming | |
| Native name | Binn Ghulbain (Irish) |
| Geography | |
  Benbulbin Location in Ireland | |
| Location | County Sligo, Ireland |
| Parent range | Dartry Mountains |
| OSI/OSNI grid | G692463 |
| Topo map | OSiDiscovery 16 |
| Climbing | |
| Easiest route | Hike |
Benbulbin (Irish:Binn Ghulbain),[1] sometimesBenbulben orBen Bulben, is a steep-sided and flat-topped mountain inCounty Sligo, Ireland. It is part of theDartry Mountains, in an area sometimes called "Yeats Country".[2][3][4] Benbulbin, 526 m (1,726 ft) high, formed as anunatak during thelast Ice Age.[5]
Benbulbin is a protected site, designated as aCounty Geological Site by Sligo County Council.[6][7]
"Benbulbin", "Benbulben" and "Ben Bulben" are allanglicisations of the Irish name "Binn Ghulbain". "Binn" means "peak" or "mountain"; "ghulbain" may mean beak or jaw, or may refer toConall Gulban, a son ofNiall of the Nine Hostages, who was associated with the mountain.[2][8]
Benbulbin was shaped during theice age, when Ireland was underglaciers. Originally it was a large plateau. Glaciers moving from the northeast to southwest shaped it into its present distinct formation.[3][9]
Benbulbin, and theDartry Mountains as a whole, are composed oflimestones on top ofmudstones. These rocks formed in the area approximately 345-330 million years ago in theViséan Stage of theCarboniferous Period. The environment was a shallow sea. Uppermost in the limestone layer is a thicker, harder limestone called theDartry Limestone Formation.[10] Below this is a thinner transitional limestone formation – theGlencar Limestone Formation. Further down, the lower slopes consist ofshaly mudstone known as the Benbulben Shale Formation.[11]Scree deposits are found near the base.[3][6]
Fossils exist throughout the layers of the mountains. All layers have many fossilised sea shells. The shale layer also holds some corals.[6]
Baryte was mined at Glencarbury near Benbulbin in the Dartry range between 1894 and 1979.[6]
Benbulbin is an established walking destination.[12][13][14] If climbed by the north face, it is a hazardous climb. That side bears the brunt of the high winds and storms that come in from the Atlantic Ocean. However, if approached by the south side, it is an easy walk, since that side slopes very gently. From the summit there are views over the coastal plain of northCounty Sligo and theAtlantic ocean.[3]The land adjacent to the western edge of the ridge is privately owned farmland and not accessible to the general public. However, there is a paved path up the south face to the east near Glencar Waterfall just over theCounty Leitrim border.
One of the trails running alongside Benbulbin mountain is the Gortarowey Looped Walk, which runs both through the forest and out in the open, overlooking Benbulbin andDonegal Bay. It is 5.5 kilometres (3 mi) in length and takes approximately 1.5 hours to walk.[15]
Benbulbin hosts a variety of plants, including some found nowhere else in Ireland. Many areArctic–alpine species, due to the mountain's height, which allows for cooler temperature at altitude than the surrounding terrain. These plants are believed to have evolved and established themselves just after the glaciers that formed Benbulbin had receded. In 2012, research revealed that thefringed sandwort found growing on Benbulbin (found nowhere else in the country) has, indeed, been present since the lastice age; the endemic plants are thought to be collectively around 100,000 years old. This discovery reopens the debate over whether or not Ireland's ecology, as we know it today, predates the Ice Age.[16] Other notable flora found on Benbulbin includesAlpine saxifrage,Arabidopsis spp.,arctic meadow-rue,bluebells,Meconopsis spp.,Poa alpina,Polystichum lonchitis, andsnowbed willow.
Wildbadger,hare andred fox may be seen in the area.[3] The formation also hosts a population ofred-billed chough—birds with a similar appearance to crows, ravens and otherCorvids, albeit with bright red bills.
Benbulbin is the setting of severalIrish legends. It is said to be one of the hunting grounds of theFianna, a band of warriors who are said to have lived in the 3rd century. One example is the story ofThe Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne,[17] in which the warriorDiarmuid Ua Duibhne (Diarmuid) is tricked byFionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) into fighting an enchantedboar, which later kills the warrior by piercing his heart with its tusk. McCool is also said to have found his long-lost sonOisín at this location. The mountain is said to be Diarmuid andGráinne's resting place. Also, in the 6th century,St. Columba fought a battle on the plain below Benbulbin atCúl Dreimhne (Cooladrumman) for the right to copy aPsalter he had borrowed fromSt. Finnian.[18]
On 20 September 1922, during theIrish Civil War, anIrish Republican Army column, including an armoured car were cornered in Sligo. The car was destroyed by another armoured car belonging to theIrish Free State'sNational Army, and six of the IRA soldiers fled up the Benbulbin's slopes. In the end, all were killed, allegedly after they had surrendered. They are known as the "Noble Six". BrigadierSeamus DevinsTD, Div. Adj. Brian MacNeill, Capt. Harry Benson, Lieut. Paddy Carroll, Vols. Tommy Langan and Joe Banks were those killed on the mountain.[19] The six anti-treaty fighters were hunted down on the slopes of Benbulbin and put to death by Free State forces which were out to avenge the killing of Brigadier Joseph Ring eight days earlier. Two of those killed and Ring were ancestors of current and recent politicians: Ring is the grand uncle ofMichael Ring, McNeill is the uncle of formerTánaiste andMinister for Justice, Equality and Law ReformMichael McDowell and Devins is the grandfather ofJimmy Devins.[20]Mary O'Rourke once narrated a radio documentary telling how her grandmother's home was used as a safehouse.[20]
DuringWorld War II there were two plane crashes in the Dartry mountains close to Benbulbin.
On 9 December 1943, aUSAAFBoeingB-17G Flying Fortress plane (en route fromGoose Bay,Labrador toPrestwick, Scotland) crashed onTruskmore just east of Benbulbin. 10 airmen were aboard, of whom three died, two at the scene and one from injuries sustained in the crash.[21] Local residents undertook a rescue mission, taking the injured off the mountain where they were then transferred to Sligo County Hospital. Substantial wreckage of the plane stayed on the mountain for many years following the crash and today limited amounts of aircraft fragments still remain at the site.[21]
Near the location of the Flying Fortress crash, there was an earlier crash also involving a military aircraft. On 21 March 1941, anRAFCatalina flying boat (AM265) using theDonegal Corridor crashed into the mountain at Glenade, County Leitrim on the east side of Truskmore. All nine airmen aboard died in the crash.[21][22]
In the 1970s and 1980s, Sinn Féin had engaged in a slogan campaign around the theme 'Brits out of Ireland'. Roads and walls throughoutIreland had been marked with these slogans as was Benbulbin in 1977. It was marked first with 'Brits Out' (180 ft wide and 25 ft high) and then later with the slogan 'H-Block'.[citation needed]
Benbulbin overlooks the village ofMullaghmore, the site of the assassination ofLord Mountbatten in 1979.[23][24]
As stated above, Benbulbin is a protected site, designated as a County Geological Site by Sligo County Council. However, in May 2018, 'Vote No' (8th amendment) campaigners erected a large "NO" sign, severely impacting the iconic view. Sligo County Council responded on social media with thefollowing statement, "As the land where the lettering was placed is commonage, Sligo County Council has no role in this matter". The sign was removed the next day.[25]
The athleteMary Cullen is from nearbyDrumcliffe.[26]Andy "The Bull" McSharry, involved in a famous 17-year-long dispute over allowing access rights over his land, lives near Benbulbin.[27]
Benbulbin features prominently in the poetry ofW. B. Yeats, after whom Yeats Country is named.[17] County Sligo is considered integral to the poet's work.[28] The mountain is one of the destinations on the Passport Trail of the poet's life.[28]
Yeats wrote the following inThe Celtic Twilight:
But for Ben Bulben and Knocknarea,
Many a poor sailor'd be cast away.[29]
The mountain is also mentioned in Yeats'sOn a Political Prisoner, in which he recalls theCountess Markiewicz riding past it to political meetings.[17]
Yeats's famous poem,Under Ben Bulben, is essentially a description of Yeats Country. It describes the sights that he saw in Yeats Country.The following is an excerpt fromUnder Ben Bulben:
Under bare Ben Bulben's head
In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid.
An ancestor was rector there
Long years ago, a church stands near,
By the road an ancient cross.
No marble, no conventional phrase;
On limestone quarried near the spot
By his command these words are cut:Cast a cold eye
On life, on death.Horseman, pass by!
— Under Ben Bulben, W.B. Yeats
This was Yeats's final poem, published inThe Irish Times.[30] He is buried inDrumcliffe Churchyard, in the shadow of Benbulbin.[17][30][31]
Sligo Borough Council has confirmed there is a recommendation in the recently published draft Sligo Environs Development Plan that Markievicz House be removed from the list of protected structures. If the elected members vote to delist the building, which in the late 1800s was home to Yeats's maternal grandparents William and Elizabeth Pollexfen, it clears the way for its demolition. [...] Stella Mew, chief executive of the Yeats Society, which is preparing for the 50th International Yeats Summer School this summer, said Sligo's Yeatsian heritage was being "whittled away piece by piece". "Luckily Ben Bulben and Knocknarea are sacrosanct – they cannot delist the mountains or they might be at risk too," she said.
These are not people climbing Ben Bulben," he stressed. "This is happening outside people's front doors when they are walking on footpaths or crossing the road.
She is said to be looking forward to climbing Ben Bulben again, having already done so several times as a student.
As he ascends Ben Bulben, he acutely feels the lack of certainty about his right of access to the uplands.
She's from picturesque Drumcliffe, in the heart of Yeats country, surrounded by idyllic sea, sands and Benbulbin but, ironically, the weather has been unseasonably foul and her preparations epitomise the loneliness of the long-distance runner.
The scene at Drumcliffe was set by Yeats himself. In his last poem, published inThe Irish Times, he wrote: Under bare Ben Bulben's head / In Drumcliffe Churchyard Yeats is laid . . .
After a quick leg-stretch in Mullaghmore we travel past the looming presence of Ben Bulben on our way to Yeats's grave at Drumcliff.
Mountains and hills ofConnacht | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Achill Island |  | ||||||
| Dartry Mountains | |||||||
| Maumturks | |||||||
| Mweelrea Mountains | |||||||
| Nephin Range | |||||||
| Ox Mountains | |||||||
| Partry Mountains | |||||||
| Sheeffry Range | |||||||
| Benna Beola |
| ||||||
| Others | |||||||
