The tallest mountain range in Ireland is MacGillycuddy Reeks. It is located on Iveragh peninsula in County Kerry on the south-west coast of the island, and spans nineteen kilometers in length (Lynch 2020). In the middle of the range if Carrauntoohil, the highest point of this mountain range, reaching 1038.6 metres tall (Lynch 2020). Not only is MacGillycuddy Reeks home to the highest peak in Ireland, but it is also home to the highest lake, Lake Cummeenoughter, that sits at the top of the reeks.

If you remember back to our discussion on Iapetus Suture in Chapter One, you will recall how the current island of Ireland emerged through the merging of two continents. MacGillycuddy Reeks is an example of a fold mountain; when the earth’s plates collided and pushed together, rocks and debris compressed into a folded rocky mountain range. The rocks that makeup MacGillycuddy Reeks are a mixture of sandstone and siltstone, and date from the Devonian period (385 million years ago) when Ireland was in a hot equatorial setting (Discover Iveragh – Geology n.d.).

During the last ice age in Ireland, glaciation resulting in plucking and abrasion resulted in U-shaped valleys, a similar process discussed in relation to the Wicklow Mountains earlier in this chapter. One of the most famous U-Shaped valleys in Ireland is found in MacGillycuddy Reeks: The Gap of Dunloe. Central to Ireland’s tourist industry, it is very possible you have seen the Gap of Dunloe’s imagery on commercials, photos, or tourist brochures and magazines, even if you have not visited this area nor heard of it before. The Gap of Dunloe features steep walls and a flat floor, dividing Macgillycuddy Reeks from the nearby purple mountains to its east.

As the reeks were glaciated, they not only carved out U-Shaped valleys, but different types of features in the landform. For example, within MacGillycuddy Reeks, there are deep corries, created through the erosion of underlying rock as ice and rocks move that creates a depression, as seen in the Eagle’s Nest on the reeks; or sharp ridges, found in the reeks on Beenkeragh Ridge.

The below map, from John Bartholomew & Sons in 1949, shows the elevation of Macgillycuddy Reeks in various graduations of orange. Can you see the various corries and lakes within the map? Based on our discussion of the the reeks and Purple Mountains, can you locate the Gap of Dunloe?:

Economy on the Reeks

MacGillycuddy reeks are one of the top tourist destinations in Ireland, and many travel to Kerry to see this rocky landscape, including to walk, hike, and mountaineer on its peaks. Much of the land on MacGillycuddy reeks is privately owned, and so private landowners (majority sheep farmers) and tourists have to contend with each other as they engage with this mountain range for different purposes.

Because the land of the reeks is privately owned, recreational users have no legal right to the land, and thus it is rural landowners who have granted access to their land; with increasing activity from tourists, landowners are faced with frustrations over the way their land is being impacted and treated by tourists traversing the space (Mountaineering Ireland 2014). For example, visitors to the area can trample vegetation on the path, erode land, and frighten sheep or cattle on the mountain, especially when they are accompanied by dogs; they can also leave litter that has a negative impact on the surrounding habitat. The Mountain Access program was proposed in 2014 to compromise and accommodate the interests of private landowners alongside those who seek to use the land for recreational purposes (MacGillycuddy Reeks Kerry n.d.). Some of the interventions include educational programmes and awareness campaigns for recreational visitors, spearheaded by mountaineering groups in the region, but also training farmers in relation to footpath erosion in the area and steps for its mitigation.

As Ireland joined the European Union (EU) in 1973, EU law also applied in relation to conservation work, and as such, the EU has designated portions of the reeks as ‘Special Areas of Conservation’ (Office of the Attorney General 2023). As such, the reeks are part of an EU project called the Agricultural European Innovation Partnership (EIP-AGRI); this program asked farmers in the area about the issues they were facing, and worked to collaborate with landowners to develop new ways of preserving and enhancing their habitats (Macgillycuddy’s Reeks Kerry, 2023). For example, landowners are being trained on how to handle invasive species, and are also financially rewarded in relation to scores given for enacting conservation measures on their land (Macgillycuddy’s Reeks Kerry, n.d.).

Figure 6.8 EIP-AGRI Participating Farmer Video Blog. © CAP Network Ireland (Ireland’s Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Innovation Network), available on Youtube; included on the basis of the Standard YouTube License.

Similar to the case of Wicklow Mountains, MacGillycuddy Reeks have been impacted by British colonialism, but in this case, rather than the building of a military road, the outcome was an important cultural practice on the reeks. In the town of Killorglin, County Kerry, there is a festival that takes place each August; it is said that it may have emerged through pagan or early Christian festivals, however it is also believed that while the English were pillaging the Irish countryside in Kerry at the foot of the MacGillycuddy Reeks during the Cromwellian conquest in the mid-17 century, they disrupted a herd of goats grazing on the upland (Puck Fair – History). These goats fled, most to the mountains, with one goat running to Killorglin, which is said to have alerted residents of the impending danger. The work of this ‘Puck’ goat has since been celebrated each August in the town, an event that includes parades, live music, and the crowning of a new goat each year (Puck Fair – History).

Watch the below video from 4:00 minutes to see an overview of the festivities followed by the coronation of Puck in 2017. You may notice instruments, singing, parade floats and costumes, as well as a speech by the Queen of Puck Fair in four languages. When watching this video, consider how the physical geography of Kerry has grown to integrate with the cultural geography of areas like Killorglin:

Figure 6.9  Puck Fair Parade 2017, Episode 6, “The Coronation” © Puck Fair (Official), available on Youtube; included on the basis of the Standard YouTube License.