The Mourne Mountains (Beanna Boirche)

A range of granite peaks in County Down, and the inspiration for songs and for the land of Narnia.

The Mourne Mountains (Beanna Boirche) in County Down are a compact range of rounded granite peaks, including Slieve Donard, the highest mountain in Northern Ireland. The famous Mourne Wall marches for over 30 km across their summits.

The Mournes inspired the song 'where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea', and are said to have helped inspire C. S. Lewis's Narnia.

At a glance

• A range of granite peaks in Co. Down.
• Include Slieve Donard, the highest peak in Northern Ireland.
• Immortalised in the song about 'the Mountains of Mourne'.

In County Down

The Mourne Mountains is in County Down, An Dún in Irish, which means “the fort”.

More in Down

• Strangford Lough (Loch Cuan): A vast sea lough of tidal islands and rich wildlife.
• Slieve Donard (Sliabh Dónairt): The highest peak in Northern Ireland, rising straight from the sea.

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 The Mourne Mountains is Beanna Boirche. 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.