Cruach Mhór

Cruach Mhór is at the far eastern section of MacGillycuddy's Reeks in County Kerry, Ireland's highest mountain range. It is the first major peak in the MacGillycuddy's Reeks Ridge Walk when started from Kate Kearney's Cottage in the Gap of Dunloe.{{cite web|url=https://www.hiddenirelandtours.com/day-excursions/day-walks-and-hikes/corran-tuathail-and-the-mcgillycuddy-reeks/|title=The Ridge of the Reeks|publisher=Hidden Ireland Tours|author=Con Moriarty|date=2018|quote=Simply, the finest mountain traverse in Ireland with 7 summits over 3000 ft. From Kate Kearney’s Cottage, in the Gap of Dunloe, to Doire na Féinne and Loch a’ Chúis}} The ridge between Cruach Mhór and Cnoc na Péiste {{convert|988|m|ft}}, is marked by The Big Gun {{convert|939|m|ft}} at its centre, and is considered as offering some of the most exposed and serious hill walking in Ireland (equivalent to The Bones on the nearby Beenkeragh Ridge).{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/walks-the-big-gun-is-a-blast-on-the-reeks-ridge-co-kerry-1.2237383|title=Walks: The Big Gun is a blast on the Reeks Ridge, Co Kerry|publisher=Irish Times|author=John O'Dwyer|date=6 June 2015|quote=Intimidating looking pinnacles now bar the way to the Big Gun, but generally the handholds are sound and surprisingly quickly you will be standing on the tiny summit. Regarded as the most difficult to reach of Ireland’s major mountaintops, it offers the comforting thought that the crux of the route is now behind.}} The Macgillycuddy's Reeks Ridge Walk continues along this ridge to Maolán Buí {{convert|973|m|ft}} and on to Carrauntoohil, Ireland's highest mountain.{{cite book | last1 = Ryan | first1 = Jim | title = Carrauntoohil and MacGillycuddy's Reeks: A Walking Guide to Ireland's Highest Mountains | publisher = Collins Press | isbn = 978-1905172337 | year = 2006 }}

File:Grotto of Cruach Mhor.jpg at the top of Cruach Mhor, built by a local farmer who hauled the materials up by hand]]

Just over 3 km to the east-northeast of Cruach Mhór, across a sharp notch, is the lesser peak of Cnoc an Bhráca {{convert|731|m|ft}}. There is a lower peak to the east of Cruach Mhór known as Cruach Bheag ("little stack").

On the summit of Cruach Mhór is a stone grotto built by a local farmer who hauled up the cement on his back, and its small statue is changed every year. The square structure, which sits on the exact summit, is visible from a distance.{{cite web|url=https://mountainviews.ie/summit/11/?PHPSESSID=8jb9ehlt6r7bjor171etus7ud5|title=Cruach Mhor|date=22 August 2004|publisher=MountainViews Online Database|author=John Finn|quote=The grotto on Cruach Mhor. This was built by a local farmer who dragged the cement, sand and water up from his home in the valley on his back! An act of devotion or madness? Madness actually as I was told the poor man ended up in St Brendan's lunatic asylum in Killarney. The statue is usually shattered by winter weather but someone still replaces it with a new one every year.}}

Cruach Mhór is the 401st-highest mountain in Britain and Ireland on the Simm classification.{{cite web|url=http://www.hills-database.co.uk/downloads.html|title=The Database of British and Irish Hills|date=2018|author1=Chris Cocker|author2=Graham Jackson|publisher=Database of British and Irish Hills}} It is listed by the Scottish Mountaineering Club ("SMC") as one of 34 Furths, which is a mountain above {{convert|3000|ft|0|abbr=on}} in elevation, and meets the other SMC criteria for a Munro (e.g. "sufficient separation"), but which is outside of (or furth) Scotland;[http://www.smc.org.uk/Hillwalking/HillKeyFacts.php Mountains – Key Facts. The Munros, Corbetts, Grahams, Donalds & Furths] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121204002706/http://www.smc.org.uk/Hillwalking/HillKeyFacts.php |date=2012-12-04 }} at www.smc.org.uk. Accessed on 5 Feb 2013. which is why Cruach Mhór is sometimes referred to as one of the 13 Irish Munros.{{cite web|url=https://www.smc.org.uk/hills/hill-lists#furths|title=Hill Lists: Furths|quote=The list of peaks of 3000ft or more within the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland outside (furth) of Scotland. There are currently 34 Furths.|publisher=Scottish Mountaineering Club|access-date=26 October 2018|archive-date=5 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005153432/https://www.smc.org.uk/hills/hill-lists#furths|url-status=dead}}

File:Cruach Mhor and The Big Gun from Cnoc na Peiste Ridge (MacGillycuddy's Reeks).jpg, to The Big Gun (r), and on to Cruach Mhor (l), whose grotto is visible at its summit.]]

Cruach Mhór's prominence qualifies it to meet the Arderin classification, and the British Isles Simm and Hewitt classifications. Cruach Mhór does not appear in the MountainViews Online Database, 100 Highest Irish Mountains, as the prominence threshold is over {{convert|100|m|0|abbr=on}}.Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins", Collins Books, Cork, {{ISBN|978-1-84889-164-7}}

{{commons category|Cruach Mhór}}

• Lists of mountains in Ireland
• List of mountains of the British Isles by height
• List of Furth mountains in the British Isles

{{reflist}}

• [https://mountainviews.ie/summit/858/ MountainViews: The Irish Mountain Website]
• [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
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120829114800/http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,591271,743300,0 Ordnance Survey Ireland ("OSI") Online Map Viewer]
• [http://www.logainm.ie/ Logainm: Placenames Database of Ireland]

{{Mountains of Great Britain and Ireland|}}

{{Mountains and hills of Munster}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruach Mhor}}

Category:Mountains and hills of County Kerry

Category:Furths

Category:Mountains under 1000 metres