Slieve Donard

Infobox Mountain
Name=Slieve Donard - Sliabh Dónairt
Location = County Down, Northern Ireland
Elevation=849 m (2,786 ft)
Photo=mournes wiki.jpg
Caption=Slieve Donard seen from St. John's Point, County Down
Prominence = "c." 825 m
Ranked 29th in Great Britain and Ireland
Topographic
OSNI "Landranger" 29
Grid_ref_Ireland=J358276
Listing=Marilyn, Hewitt
Translation=Mountain of Donard
Language=Irish

Slieve Donard (Sliabh Domangard or Sliabh Dónairt in Irish) is the highest mountain in Northern Ireland, and in the province of Ulster as a whole, at 849 m (2,786 ft) [cite web
url = http://www.irishscientist.ie/2004/contents.asp?contentxml=04isp45b.xml&contentxsl=is04pages.xsl
title = Measuring the height of Slieve Donard
accessdate =2008-06-21
author = Ken Stewart, Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland
date = 2004
work = 2004 Year Book
quote = This final calculation gives a measured height for Slieve Donard of 849.14m above MSL Belfast, and is estimated to be correct to better than 5cm. ] . It is situated by the small seaside town of Newcastle on the east coast. Sitting at the edge of the Mourne Mountains only 2 miles (3 km) from the sea, it provides spectacular views of the coast and as far afield as Belfast, 30 miles north. The mountain is an easy climb although the path is very eroded at places. In recent years a stone path has been made on the steepest parts of the mountain. The most prominent feature of this mountain is the Mourne Wall running along its southern and western shoulders.

Slieve Donard is named after Saint Domangart, or Domangard, also known as Saint Donard. [cite web
url = http://www.ulsterplacenames.org/place_and_people_names.htm
title = Celebrating Ulster's Townlands
accessdate =2008-06-21
author = Kay Muhr
date =
work = Ulster Place-Name Society (Queen's University, Belfast)] He was a follower of Saint Patrick and the patron saint of the town of Maghera, also in County Down. His feast day is March 24; his "church Rath Muirbuilc, now called Maghera, was at the foot of the mountain near the sea, but he had also an oratory on the very summit of the hill."Fact|date=February 2007 His death is given as 507 AD.

Although Slieve Donard is Northern Ireland's highest peak, it is not the highest mountain in Ireland - this title belongs to Carrauntoohil in County Kerry, which is almost 200 metres higher.

External links

* [http://www.adsystemsit.com/donard Interactive 360° view from the summit] (dead link?)
*Computer generated summit panoramas [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/IRL/Donard-N.gifNorth] [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/IRL/Donard-S.gifSouth] [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas.html index]
* [http://www.onwards-and-upwards.co.uk/The%20Mournes/Slieve%20Donard/Slieve%20Donard.htm Photos of Donard]

References