Kanturk Hillwalkers and Mountain Climbers | Blog

On Sunday 5 th. May the club outing was to Moylussa in County Clare. On a lovely brisk morning we left town at 08.30 and headed to Limerick. Then on to the M7 turning off at the Killaloe / Ballina junction. Here we stopped at the Applegreen service station for tea / coffee. We then continued to Ballina crossing the mighty Shannon over the 13 arch stone bridge into Killaloe in the Banner county of Clare.Birthplace of Brian Boro 941-1014 high king of Ireland from 1002 until his untimely death at Clontarf in1014. Brian ruled Ireland from Killaloe which was effectively capital of Ireland that time. Another man born here was the legendary Keith Wood , Ireland captain, Munster and Lions hooker. Keith opened a coffee shop here in 2018. Turning right in Killaloe we continued to the car park at Ballycuggarn Wood on the banks of Lough Derg. It’s claimed that the oak from this area was used to roof Westminister  Hall. Much of the oak was used for shipbuilding and to feed the fires of the i...

In our constant search for new routes and mountains to climb, our outing on Sunday 18/03 took us to east Clare. Moylussa the highest point in County Clare at 532 meters part of the Sliabh Bearnagh range was our destination. After turning off the motorway at Killaloe exit we stopped for some tea / coffee. While we were here the weather took a turn for the worst and there was a snow shower. We considered our options and decided to press on. Passing over the 300 year old bridge we crossed the Shannon and entered Killaloe,birth place of Brian Boru. We took the Scarriff road and parked up at a car park near the entrance to Ballycuggaran wood. Ballycuggaran is named after the O Cuggarans who were an important clan in the court of Brian Boru. Initially this walk is on forest paths and it follows the East Clare way for some time. It’s a fairly steep walk and with the snow fall getting heavier as we gained altitude, we assessed the situation and decided to carry on. After some time the fo...