the mountaineering council of ireland website

Hill-walking has become a popular sport in Ireland, with thousands of people walking with dozens of clubs or in smaller groups. While vigorous, other aspects of mountaineering in Ireland such as rock-climbing and hill-running trail behind in numbers participating.
So why have so many people been inspired to take up hill-walking in Ireland? Well the fundamentals are the hills, the weather and access. The hills would be considered tiny in the context of many European areas let alone further afield. Nevertheless we call them mountains, and in the context of the landscape they are set in, this is quite fair. They aren’t that high but there’s lots of them, all around the coastline and near the cities. Rather than spending a day getting to the treeline on some 3000+m giant elsewhere, a typical walk here can include three to five summits with navigation on rough ground between them.......click here on the Mountaineering Council of Ireland website for more information.