The rock wall
A grey edge below the top.
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Benbulbin is a steep-sided, flat-topped mountain in County Sligo, 526 metres high and part of the Dartry Mountains. From afar it looks like a huge green table or a ship moored among the fields, one of the best-known views of the west of Ireland, in an area sometimes called Yeats Country after the poet W. B. Yeats. The mountain took shape in the Ice Age, when Ireland lay under glaciers. It was once a wide plateau, carved into its present form by ice moving from north-east to south-west. Its rocks are limestone over mudstone, laid down 345 to 330 million years ago in a shallow sea. Sligo County Council has listed it as a protected County Geological Site. Its finest feature is the line of vertical gullies scoring its green side, with a grey rock wall below the top. The view changes with the weather: cloud often hides the summit, while on other days every edge is sharp. You see it from the coast road, from fields near the sea and from around Drumcliff Bay. The mountain is 10.8 km in a straight line north of Sligo town. Most visits are simply to see it from nearby roads, as the sides are steep, so do not try to climb without a known route and experience. The land around it is private farmland, so do not enter without permission. The weather changes quickly, so bring a jacket and choose a clear day if you can.
A grey edge below the top.
Vertical lines on the green side.
The mountain above coastal fields.
Dartry Mountains, north County Sligo
The sides are steep, so do not try without a known route and experience, and most visitors enjoy the view.
The area is sometimes called Yeats Country, after the Irish poet.