| Brandon Hill | |
|---|---|
 Brandon Hill from the northwest | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 515 m (1,690 ft)[1] |
| Prominence | 450 m (1,480 ft)[1] |
| Listing | County top (Kilkenny),Marilyn,Arderin |
| Coordinates | 52°30′35″N6°58′27″W / 52.509704°N 6.974251°W /52.509704; -6.974251 |
| Naming | |
| Native name | Cnoc Bhréanail |
| Geography | |
  Brandon Hill Location in Ireland | |
| Location | County Kilkenny, Ireland |
| OSI/OSNI grid | S697402 |
| Topo map | OSiDiscovery 68 |
Brandon Hill (Irish:Cnoc Bhréanail) is the highest mountain inCounty Kilkenny, Ireland, with anelevation of 515 m (1,690 ft) andprominence at 448 m (1,470 ft).[1] TheSouth Leinster Way, along-distance trail, meandering through the Barrow Valley and traverses Brandon Hill. The village ofGraiguenamanagh andRiver Barrow are at the base of the hill. It is classified as a county high point, anArderin, aMyrddyn Dewey, and aMarilyn.
Brandon Hill has variousclassifications (§ DoBIH codes). Brandon Hill (Gribbon No. 071) is known as thecounty high point but are also sometimes referred to ascounty top andcounty peak.[2][3][4] It is listed as one of the 200 Myrddyn Deweys, which are the Irish equivalent ofDeweys. It is listed as one of the407 Arderins, which are the Irish equivalent of theHewitt.
Brandon Hill has a regional height rank of 151 of 454 Marilyns in Ireland (389 in the Republic of Ireland and 66 in Northern Ireland), and a regionalprominence of 53. With aheight rank of 1098 andprominence rank of 269 of the total for the British Isles of 2,011.[5]
Brandon is 4-kilometres South-South West ofGraiguenamanagh, 7-kilometres east ofInistioge and 11-kilometres east ofThomastown, in the south of County Kilkenny.[6] Brandon Hill is in thebarony ofGowran and in theprovince ofLeinster.[7] The village ofGraiguenamanagh is at the base of the hill.
It is the termination of the chain ofgranitic mountains that raise from the shores of Dublin bay.[8] The base of Brandon Hill on the side of theRiver Barrow and the hill running toGraigue is composed ofschist rock.[9] This blackish siliceous schistus, sometimes containing grains of quartz and when it is broken it has a shivery texture and is hard enough to scratch glass.[10]There are a few beds of marble and limestone gravel near the foot of the mountain.[11]
Evidence regarding the early settlement of the Brandon Hill uplands came to light as a result of ground and aerial surveys directed by Michael Gibbons, an archaeologist with the Board of Works, in 1989. The survey indicated that the slopes of Brandon were settled in excess of four thousand years ago and that the cairns, house sites, field systems and a large ritual enclosure identified on its slopes are part of the prehistoric remains there. Two Norman moated sites, with long rectangular buildings attached - probably granges or farms attached to Duiske Abbey and thought to be about 600 years old - were also identified on the lower slopes in the Ballyogan townland area during the survey.
{{citation}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help){{citation}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help).{{citation}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)| British Isles |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Scotland | ||
| Outside Scotland | ||
| England | ||
| Ireland | ||
| County tops | ||
