Muckross Head
Encyclopedia
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
about 10 km west of Killybegs
Killybegs
Killybegs is the largest fishing port in County Donegal and in Ireland. It is located on the south coast of the county, north of Donegal Bay, near Donegal Town. The town is situated at the head of a scenic harbour and at the base of a vast mountainous tract extending northward...
, Co. Donegal, in north-western Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. It contains a popular rock-climbing area, noted for its unusual horizontally layered structure.
Overview
Muckross Head has two beaches, one of which is popular with surfers. That beach (trá na nglór in Irish, or "beach of the noise") has a rip tide, coming in at both sides and sucking out in the middle, but is not particularly dangerous. The other beach (trá bán, meaning "white beach" in Irish) some hundreds of metres away is a popular family beach which is safe for swimming but has a risk of rockfall. That beach also has a public car park and toilets in summer.The area is referred to in a 1732 survey of the Murray-Hamilton estate, of which it was a small part (see public records office Belfast). The survey referred to a house "on the point" occupied by a Mr Murray (probably the principal tenant who would have had many peasant subtenants not referred to in the survey) but there are no traces today of the house.
The Head has a public monument on its extreme tip. The plaque warning against interference has rusted away, leaving an ugly concrete base. The monument consists of a neolithic wall which ran across the headland and was possibly defensive in character, but little of it is left as its stones were useful in building farmhouses and outhouses on the headland. The monument is known locally as The Market House. The origin of the name is not known for certain, but it was a location for selling local farm produce and livestock such as sheep, pigs and cattle. This is probably why was given this name.
The headland has a rich fauna and also a small area of exposed limestone karst. In some places along the headland there are deposits of fossils, mainly of seaweeds and shellfish.
The headland is at the base of a c. 250 m hill known locally as Muckross Hill.
The nearest village is Kilcar, which is approx 3 km to the west.
The island of Inisduff (Irish - Black Island) is situated about 5 km south east of Muckross Head, in Donegal Bay. It is a small uninhabitated island and featureless but is a prominent sight from the coast road between Killybegs and Kilcar.
Climbing
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
is small and remote from major population centres, but it is quite popular because of the unusual climbing encountered there. It is a sea-cliff, situated above a partly tidal rock platform, and access is quite convenient.
The rock consists of horizontally layered sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
with intervening thin layers of mudstone
Mudstone
Mudstone is a fine grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Grain size is up to 0.0625 mm with individual grains too small to be distinguished without a microscope. With increased pressure over time the platey clay minerals may become aligned, with the...
which have been eroded
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
away to produce horizontal breaks and overhang
Overhang
Overhang may refer to:* Debt overhang, a fiscal situation of a government* Market overhang, a concept in marketing* Monetary overhang, a phenomenon where people have money holdings due to the lack of ability to spend them...
s. The climbs are all single-pitch
Pitch (vertical space)
-Climbing:In rock climbing and ice climbing, a pitch is a steep section of a route that requires a rope between two belays, as part of a climbing system...
, between 10 m and 20 m in height. The overhanging nature of much of the rock makes climbing there quite strenuous, and yields some spectacular roof-climbing.
The current guidebook
Climbing guidebook
Climbing guidebooks are used by rock climbers to find the location of climbing routes at crags or on mountains. Guidebooks also offer condensed information about local restaurants, bars and camping areas; often include sections on geology and local climbing history; and may contain many pictures to...
, published in 2002, lists about 50 climbs at Muckross, ranging in grade up to E6/6b. Climbing of all grades is available, but the higher grades predominate. In accordance with Irish climbing ethics, only traditional protection
Protection (climbing)
To make climbing as safe as possible, most climbers use protection, a term used to describe the equipment used to prevent injury to themselves and others.-Types of climbing:...
("clean climbing
Clean climbing
Clean climbing is a rock climbing term that describes techniques and equipment which climbers use in order to avoid damage to the rock. These techniques date at least in part from the 1920s and earlier in England, but the term itself may have emerged in about 1970 during the widespread and rapid...
") is used, medium-to-big cams being very useful.