Overview
The Sheehy Mountains (Irish: Cnoic na Seithe, ‘hills of the animal hides’) are a low, rugged range straddling the border between County Cork and County Kerry. They are built on Old Red Sandstone, worn down and gouged into deep valleys, rounded tops and scores of small lakes by Ice-Age glaciers. The high point is Knockboy (Cnoc Buí, ‘yellow hill’) at 706 m, with Caoinkeen (692 m), Knocknamanagh (637 m) and Gullaba Hill (625 m) behind it. The River Lee starts its run to Cork Harbour from the Coomroe valley on the eastern side.
Be honest with yourself about what you’re here for. Choose a managed trail for a straightforward outing, or plan separately for open mountain ground. If you want the scenery without the bog, go to Gougane Barra, where the lake, the oratory and the forest park ask nothing more than an easy walk.
Gougane Barra
At Gougane Barra, in the Coomroe valley, Saint Finbarr founded a hermitage in the 6th century on a small island in the lake. The tiny St Finbarr’s Oratory still stands on it, reached by a short causeway. Early morning is usually the stillest time, before the day’s visitors arrive. Behind the lake, Gougane Barra Forest Park has a network of marked walking trails.
Coillte lists six marked routes in the forest park. They include the 0.5 km multi-access nature trail and the strenuous Slí na Sléibhe, the mountain trail, which opens onto views over the lake and peaks. Check the Coillte page for the full list, route lengths and current trail conditions before you go.
Coillte lists a €5 vehicle entry fee, payable by debit or credit card or with its annual pass. Check the Coillte page for current arrangements.
Knockboy and the open mountain
Knockboy is the high point of the range, and on a clear day it gives wide views over both counties. This is open, exposed ground, with loose stone, peat hags and no marked path, so it needs boots, a map and the navigation to use them, not a phone and good intentions. Knockboy and the other high summits require independent navigation.
Check Mountaineering Ireland’s access updates and seek local permission for your intended approach. Take a map and compass, check the mountain forecast and turn back if visibility or ground conditions deteriorate.
The four-summit Shehy Mountains Challenge links Knockboy, Caoinkeen, Knocknamanagh and Gullaba Hill. It is explicitly for experienced, well-equipped hillwalkers who can navigate rough, exposed terrain in any weather, and is not a day out for beginners. Check access for your chosen approach before you plan it.
Shehy Highland Park
Shehy Highland Park is a separate working sheep farm with designated trails near the Cousane Gap, opened up as a walking park. Check its current gate hours, admission and animal rules before going. Follow its signs and keep to the waymarked trails, because this is private farmland.
History and the Cousane Gap
People have lived in the Sheehys for thousands of years, and the foothills are dotted with Neolithic monuments, ringforts and fulachta fia (ancient cooking pits). The Cousane Gap, the road cut through the range in the late 1820s by the geologist Sir Richard Griffith, links Cork to Bantry Bay and marks the old division between the baronies of Carbery, Bantry and West Muskerry. The remote valleys gave cover to IRA and anti-Treaty columns during the War of Independence and the Civil War.
Wildlife
The Sheehys are blanket bog, rough grassland and patches of conifer plantation. The animals are mostly lowland species, but the Irish hare, the stonechat and the raven are all seen more often up here. In the wettest ground, look for carnivorous plants, butterworts and sundews, among the heather and bilberry. Gougane Barra rewards a photographer best in the early morning or just after a shower, when the lake goes mirror-still beneath the peaks.
Practical Information
- Access: the Cork side is reached on the R585, and the marked routes are at Gougane Barra Forest Park and Shehy Highland Park. Most visitors come by car; check Transport for Ireland for any public transport to the area.
- Fees: Coillte lists a €5 vehicle entry fee at Gougane Barra. Check Shehy Highland Park for its current admission. Check access for the open mountain before you go.
- Best time: settled weather, usually late spring to early autumn, makes for the best conditions, but check the mountain forecast whenever you go.
- Safety: mountain weather turns fast. Carry waterproofs, a map and compass and a charged phone, and wear boots, because the higher ground crosses soft peat and loose stone.
- Food and beds: Bantry, Glengarriff and Kenmare have a choice of B&Bs and hotels; check what is available near Gougane Barra before you travel.
If you do just one thing, walk the causeway to St Finbarr’s Oratory first thing in the morning. Come midweek and out of high summer, and you may have the lake to yourself.