Slieve Donard (Sliabh Dónairt)

The highest peak in Northern Ireland, rising straight from the sea.

At 850 m, Slieve Donard is the tallest of the Mourne Mountains and of Northern Ireland, its summit topped by two ancient cairns. The Mourne Wall climbs its flank, and on a clear day the view reaches to Wales and Scotland.

At a glance

• 850 m, highest in Northern Ireland
• Highest of the Mourne Mountains
• Ancient summit cairns and the Mourne Wall

In County Down

Slieve Donard is in County Down, An Dún in Irish, which means “the fort”.

More in Down

• The Mourne Mountains (Beanna Boirche): A range of granite peaks in County Down, and the inspiration for songs and for the land of Narnia.
• Strangford Lough (Loch Cuan): A vast sea lough of tidal islands and rich wildlife.

Other places of this kind

• Carrauntoohil (Corrán Tuathail): The highest mountain in Ireland, standing at 1,038.6 meters.
• Croagh Patrick (Cruach Phádraig): Ireland's holy mountain, climbed by pilgrims for over a thousand years in honour of St Patrick.
• Slieve League (Sliabh Liag): Among the highest sea cliffs in Europe, rising almost 600 metres from the Atlantic in County Donegal.
• Benbulben (Binn Ghulbain): The dramatic flat-topped 'table mountain' of County Sligo, at the heart of Yeats Country and Irish legend.
• The Sperrin Mountains (Sléibhte Speirín): A sweeping range of rounded hills across counties Tyrone and Derry, and one of the largest upland areas in Ireland.
• Mount Leinster (Stua Laighean): The highest peak of the Blackstairs Mountains, rising on the Carlow-Wexford border.

The Irish name

The Irish form of Slieve Donard is Sliabh Dónairt. You can hear it spoken, and take apart names like it, in the Placename Explorer. The authoritative record for any Irish place-name is logainm.ie.