Ox Mountains

Summary

The Ox Mountains or Slieve Gamph[1] (Irish: Sliabh Gamh, 'storm mountains')[2] are a mountain range in County Sligo on the west coast of Ireland. They are also known as Saint Patrick's Mountains after the saint who built churches on its slopes and left his name to some of its wells.[3]

Ox Mountains
Sliabh Gamh
View of the Ox Mountains from Knocknarea
Highest point
PeakKnockalongy
Elevation544 m (1,785 ft)
Coordinates54°10′N 8°50′W / 54.167°N 8.833°W / 54.167; -8.833
Geography
Ox Mountains is located in island of Ireland
Ox Mountains
Ox Mountains
CountryRepublic of Ireland
Provinces of IrelandConnacht

Geography edit

The highest peak in the Ox Mountains is Knockalongy, which is 544 metres (1,785 ft) high.[4]

 
View from Culleenamore beach of Knockalongy, the range's highest peak

The mountains begin immediately southwest of Ballysadare, and run west-southwest for some forty miles to the boundary of County Mayo, where they are continued to the southwest by the Slieve Gamph range, which runs first on the boundary of the two counties, and then into Mayo. The mountains have several summits from 1,200 to 1,800 feet high; and Slieve Gamph reaches 1,363 feet.[5]

Geology edit

Lead and copper mines were formerly worked in the Ox Mountains, but by 1900, the works had been long since discontinued.[5]

Peaks edit

Hill Height (m)
Knockalongy 544 m
Annatoran 512 m
Cloonacool 440 m
Sruffaungarve Top 400 m
Meenamaddo 330 m
Knocknashee 276 m

References edit

  1. ^ Slieve Gamph or the Ox Mountains. Placenames Database of Ireland.
  2. ^ Paul Tempan (May 2019). "Irish Hill and Mountain Names" (PDF). MountainViews.ie.
  3. ^ The History of Sligo: Town and County Terence O'Rorke, p. 3, 1890.
  4. ^ "Ox Mountains". MountainViews. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  5. ^ a b "Description of County Sligo from Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland (1900)". Library Ireland. Retrieved 24 February 2009.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.