Carrauntoohil

Where is Carrauntoohil?

Carrauntoohil is part of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks, County Kerry.

You will find it in: Ireland.

Summit: 51.999° N, 9.743° W

The story behind it

The mountain is made of old red sandstone, a rock that was once sand at the bottom of a river system. Ice-age glaciers scooped deep bowls out of its sides, and those bowls now hold dark lakes with names like the Devil's Looking Glass. The valley below, called the Hag's Glen, is a wide green trough with stepping stones across the stream. The best known route up is a steep, stony gully known as the Devil's Ladder, where walkers scramble on hands and feet. Weather here changes fast: sunshine can turn into thick cloud and rain within minutes, and the wind on top often knocks people sideways. The Irish name, Corrán Tuathail, describes a curved or sickle shape, which fits the sharp ridge line seen from the north.

Find it on the globe

Carrauntoohil is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.