Benbrack

The name is most likely derived from the lumps of quartzite stones and boulders that are strewn across the summit of Benbrack.

Benbrack sits on its own small massif, with Benbaun and the large massif of the core Twelve Bens lying to the south, connected via a deep col called Maumnascalpa to the Bens of Muckanaght {{convert|654|m|ft}} and Benfree {{convert|638|m|ft}}; to the north is Kylemore Lough (and Kylemore Abbey), and across the Lough is the massif of Garraun, which is part of the wider Twelve Bens/Garraun Complex Special Area of Conservation.

To the west of Benbrack, at the end of a long spur, is the subsidiary, and similarly named summit of Knockbrack at {{convert|442|m|ft}} ({{langx|ga|Cnoc Breac}}, meaning "speckled hill"). To the north of Benbrack, is the other subsidiary summit of Benbaun, at {{convert|447|m|ft}}, which can confused with the larger 729-metre Benbaun to the south, and therefore its other Irish language place name {{langx|ga|Maolán}} (meaning "knoll"), can be used instead.

Benbrack lies at the intersection of two major U-shaped valleys, with Glencorbet to the east, and Polladirk to the west (Polladirk can be viewed from a popular scenic viewpoint on the summit of Diamond Hill). To the northwest of Benbrack, is the small valley and river of Mweelin {{langx|ga|Mweelin}}, around which Knockbrack, Benbrack and Benbaun (477 m) form a small horseshoe, popular with walkers.

The most straightforward route to climb Benbrack is a 5-kilometre 2.5-hour round-trip via its subsidiary peak of Benbaun, starting and ending at the car park in Kylemore Abbey (L747583); this route can be expanded into the 7-kilometre 3.5 hour Mweelin Horseshoe, by descending via Knockbrack.{{cite book | author=Paul Phelan | year=2011 | title=Connemara & Mayo - A Walking Guide: Mountain, Coastal & Island Walks | publisher=Collins Press | isbn=978-1848891029 | quote=Route 6: Mweelin}}{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/go-walk-mweelin-connemara-co-galway-1.1481806|title=Go Walk: Mweelin, Connemara, Co Galway|author=John G. O'Dwyer | date=3 August 2013 | accessdate=4 August 2019 | newspaper=Irish Times}}

Benbrack is also climbed as part of the Glencorbet Horseshoe, a 14-kilometre 6–7 hour circuit of Kylemore River, usually done counter-clockwise, which takes in the peaks of Benbaun (477 metres), Benbrack, Muckanaght (optional), Benfree, Benbaun (729 metres), and ending at Knockpasheemore.{{cite book|url=https://www.amazon.com/Irelands-Best-Walks-Walking-Guides/dp/184889211X|title=Ireland's Best Walks: A Walking Guide (Walking Guides) |author=Helen Fairbairn|publisher=Collins Press|date=30 December 2014|isbn=978-1848892118|quote=ROUTE 33: The Glencorbet Horseshoe. A true classic}}{{cite book | author=Paul Phelan | year=2011 | title=Connemara & Mayo - A Walking Guide: Mountain, Coastal & Island Walks | publisher=Collins Press | isbn=978-1848891029 | quote=Route 11: Glencorbet Horseshoe}}{{cite news | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/around-the-bens-in-connemara-1.612349| newspaper=Irish Times | author=Tony Doherty | date=1 October 2011 | accessdate=4 August 2019 | title=Glencorbet Horseshoe: Around the Bens in Connemara}}

File:Polladirk Valley, Twelve Bens, Ireland.jpg|Polladirk Valley with Benbrack and Knockbrack to the left, as viewed from Diamond Hill

File:Col between Benbrack and Knockbrack - geograph.org.uk - 200986.jpg|Summit of Knockbrack as viewed from the col with Benbrack

File:View north west from summit of Benbrack - geograph.org.uk - 200889.jpg|View northwest to Killary Harbour, from the summit of Benbrack

• {{cite book | last1 = Fairbairn | first1 = Helen | title = Ireland's Best Walks: A Walking Guide | publisher = Collins Press | isbn = 978-1848892118 | year = 2014}}
• {{cite book| author=MountainViews Online Database (Simon Stewart)|year=2013 | title=A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins |publisher=Collins Books | isbn=978-1-84889-164-7}}
• {{cite book | author=Paul Phelan | year=2011 | title=Connemara & Mayo - A Walking Guide: Mountain, Coastal & Island Walks | publisher=Collins Press | isbn=978-1848891029 }}
• {{cite book | last1 = Dillion | first1 = Paddy | title = Connemara: Collins Rambler's guide | publisher = Harper Collins | isbn = 978-0002201216 | year = 2001 }}
• {{cite book | last1 = Dillion | first1 = Paddy | title = The Mountains of Ireland: A Guide to Walking the Summits | publisher = Cicerone | isbn = 978-1852841102 | year = 1993 }}

{{commons category|Benbrack}}

• Twelve Bens
• Mweelrea, major range in Killary Harbour
• Maumturks, major range in Connemara
• Lists of mountains in Ireland
• List of Marilyns in the British Isles

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{{reflist}}

• [https://mountainviews.ie/summit/308/ MountainViews: The Irish Mountain Website], Benbrack
• [https://mountainviews.ie/mv/irl150setup.htm MountainViews: Irish Online Mountain Database]
• [http://www.hills-database.co.uk/downloads.html The Database of British and Irish Hills ], the largest database of British Isles mountains ("DoBIH")
• [http://www.hill-bagging.co.uk/ Hill Bagging UK & Ireland], the searchable interface for the DoBIH

{{Mountains of Great Britain and Ireland|}}

{{Mountains and hills of Connacht}}

{{IrishTrails}}

Category:Marilyns of Ireland

Category:Mountains and hills of County Galway

Category:Geography of County Galway

Category:Mountains under 1000 metres