Product Code Database
Letterbreckaun () is one of the Maumturk Mountains of Connemara in County Galway, Ireland. At , it is the second-tallest of the Maumturks, the 129th–highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin list, and 159th–highest on the Vandeleur-Lynam list.Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins", Collins Books, Cork, Letterbreckaun is in the middle sector of the long north-west to south-east spine of the Maumturks.
To the south, Letterbreckaun is connected by a long winding quartzite rocky ridge to Knocknahillion at ; the ridge itself includes the two minor peaks of Barrlugrevagh and Knocknahillion North Top , and after Knocknahillion, descends to the col of Maumahoge ().
To the north of Letterbreckaun is the subsidiary summit of Letterbreckaun NE Top , whose prominence of qualifies it as an Arderin Beg. Further north, the slopes of Letterbreckaun drop into the sharp and steep "v-shaped" col of Maam Turk (, meaning "pass of the boar"), from which the entire range bears its name. (2025). 9780002201216, Harper Collins. ISBN 9780002201216 Paul Tempan notes that the "holy well" marked on the OS maps at Maam Turk was noted by Irish historian Ruaidhrí Ó Flaithbheartaigh in 1684, saying: "There is a well in memorie of St. Fechin at Mam-tuirk". Further north from the col of Maam Turk is the minor peak of Maumturkmore, which then crosses the "Col of Despondency" to the grassy sandstone and siltstone massif of Leenaun Hill.
Letterbreckaun's prominence of qualifies it as a Marilyn, and it also ranks it as the 82nd-highest mountain in Ireland on the MountainViews Online Database, 100 Highest Irish Mountains, where the minimum prominence threshold is 100 metres.
Letterbreckaun is also climbed as part of the Maamturks Challenge, a 25-kilometre 10–12 hour walk over the full Maumturks range (from Maam Cross to Leenaun), which is considered one of the "great classic ridge-walks of Ireland", but of "extreme grade" due to the circa 7,600 feet of total ascent.
Since 1975, the University College Galway Mountaineering Club, has run the annual "Maamturks Challenge Walk" (MCW), and mans a checkpoint on the summit of Letterbreckaun.
|
|
