Slieve Muck
{{Short description|Mountain in Northern Ireland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Slieve Muck
| other_name = Sliabh Muc
| photo = Mourne countryside at Slievenagore - geograph.org.uk - 1205489.jpg
| photo_caption = The southern slopes of Slieve Muck
| elevation_m = 670.4
| elevation_ref = {{Cite news |url=https://mountainviews.ie/summit/151/ |title=Slieve Muck at MountainViews.ie |work=MountainViews.ie |access-date=25 March 2019}}
| prominence_m = 156
| range = Mourne Mountains
| location = County Down, Northern Ireland
| map = Northern Ireland
| map_caption = within Northern Ireland
| map_size = 300
| label_position = right
| coordinates = {{coord|54.158002|N|6.039699|W|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_ref=
| grid_ref_Ireland = J282250
| topo = OSNI Landranger 29, OSNI Outdoor Pursuits map Mourne Country
}}
Slieve Muck ({{IPAc-en|s|l|iː|v|_|m|ʌ|k}} {{respell|SLEEV|_|MUK}}; {{Irish derived place name|Sliabh Muc|pig mountain}}) is one of the Mourne Mountains in County Down, Northern Ireland.{{Cite book |title=Mourne Country: Landscape and Life in South Down |last=Evans |first=Emyr Estyn |publisher=Dundalgan Press |year=1951|edition=first|pages=218}} It has a height of {{Convert|670.4|m}}. The River Bann has its source on the northern slope.{{Cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/go-walk-slieve-muck-co-down-1.724234 |title=Go Walk: Slieve Muck, Co Down |date=22 Aug 2009 |work=Irish Times |access-date=25 March 2019 |language=en}}{{Cite book |title=A History of the County of Down, from the Most Remote Period to the Present Day: Including an Account of Its Early Colonization, Ecclesiastical, Civil and Military Policy |publisher=Hodges, Foster & Company |year=1875 |pages=305}}
Slieve Muck has three summits which are composed of Silurian shale covering the underlying granite. The shale forms an escarpment near the eastern side of the summits. The western slope is grassy and has a number of small streams flowing into the Deer's Meadow below. The eastern slope below the escarpment is made up of stony scree with lighter coloured areas appearing to spell out POV when seen from a distance, local people have used their imagination to complete the word Poverty, which has led to the mountain also being referred to as Poverty Mountain.{{Cite book |title=Mourne Country: Landscape and Life in South Down |last=Evans |first=Emyr Estyn |edition=fourth |publisher=Dundalgan Press |year=1989 |pages=19}}
Physical characteristics
Standing at 673 metres above sea level, Slieve Muck forms the geological junction between the Eastern and Central Mournes. The mountain consists of three summits composed of Silurian shales overlying granite, with a distinctive well-defined escarpment on its southern and eastern sides. The mountain has markedly different vegetation patterns on its opposing slopes. The western slope is dominated by wet rough grassland where Nardus stricta (mat-grass) is the predominant species. In contrast, the eastern slope is predominantly covered with heather (Ericaceae), with Calluna vulgaris (common heather) occurring more frequently than Erica species. Near the summit, vegetation becomes noticeably sparser, characterized as unimproved acid grassland according to vegetation surveys conducted in the early 1990s.
The soil composition varies across the mountain. The hard siliceous granites of the Mourne uplands, combined with the wet climate, have given rise to poor infertile soils. These include freely-draining acid brown earths and highly leached, extremely acid peat podsols. Blanket peats measuring between 0.2–0.3 meters deep cover the mountain regardless of elevations. On the wetter western flanks, species of Sphagnum (bog moss) are common, while the overall plant cover near the summit is reduced compared to lower elevations. Pollen analysis studies conducted in 1989–1990 indicate that these vegetation patterns have remained largely unchanged for at least three centuries, suggesting the current ecological character of Slieve Muck is of considerable antiquity.
References
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{{Mountains and hills of Ulster}}
Category:Mountains and hills of County Down
Category:Marilyns of Northern Ireland