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Holyground, Dingle, Co. Kerry, V92 WY44ModerateOld road · Dingle · recorded
An Bóthar
Glas.
A point-to-point journey along An Bóthar Glas (the Green Road) through old walls, mountain lakes and the western Dingle landscape.
Also known as The Green Road.
DISTANCE
9.60km
ASCENT
333m
HIGH POINT
411m
Rob’s recorded time 4 hr 08 · old road crossing · 619 recorded track points GRADE GUIDE ↗
Reading the map…
INTERACTIVE TERRAIN · ACTUAL GPX TRACKACTUAL GPX TRACK
A recorded time is not a planning estimate. Build your own from pace, ascent, ground, weather and daylight.
ONE · BEFORE YOU COMMIT
Is this your day?
The grade, the hazards, the forecast and the ground the route actually crosses. Everything you need to decide whether to go at all.
WEATHER AT A GLANCE
Forecast for around 400 m
Approx. 400 mNOWReading the forecast
WINDReading the forecast
TODAY’S PEAK RAIN CHANCEReading the forecast
Forecast. This is a modelled estimate for this route’s high ground; conditions can differ sharply across the mountain. Detailed planning guidance follows. Derived from Open-Meteo forecast data ↗.
RECORDED ELEVATION
16 m to 411 m.
The profile follows the supplied GeoJSON and its recorded elevation at every point.
411 m16 m
Reading the forecast
0 km333 m ascent · 461 m descent9.60 km
THE LINE
A road with things standing beside it.
The recorded line follows An Bóthar Glas, the Green Road, across rough mountain country, losing more height than it gains before reaching the western finish. Old walls, route markers and lake views give the crossing its character.
The stonework is worth a closer look. A high retaining wall carries a stretch of the road above the slope, while other walls run beside the lakes and through the lower fields. These are the features that make the old line recognisable on the ground. Its construction date and original use have not been established.
What the road goes past
Whatever the road was for, it was not made through empty country. Three metres off the recorded line is a fulacht fia, a Bronze Age cooking place, and seventeen metres off it a group of stones the Survey has not classified. Neither has a published description yet, so the record is a dot and a name.
The ones that are described are close too. A standing stone twenty-five metres away, 1.18 m high and three quarters of a metre across the base, tapering to a point. Another at forty-four metres, triangular, on poorly drained ground with a commanding view north. Then hut sites on the slopes of Knockmoylemore, and clocháns: circular corbelled drystone, one of them 2.05 m across and still standing 1.59 m high.
Not on any old map
The triangular stone is a recent addition to the record. It appears on no edition of the historic Ordnance Survey sheets, and the Survey credits its identification to Ina Doyle. Somebody walked that ground and looked properly.
The cashel in the pass
A hundred and forty metres off the line, in the pass between Knockmoylemore and Sugarloaf, a hundred metres west of a ford across the Garfinny river, is a cashel: a stone-walled ring about nineteen metres across inside, its wall 1.8 m thick and 1.7 m high, with a clochán 5.2 m wide set in the middle of it and an iron gate now hung in the entrance.
- 01Old-road openingThe route begins at 144 m and follows the historic line.
- 02Lake countryOld walls and water sit beneath the surrounding mountains.
- 03Past the fulacht fiaThe line runs within three metres of a Bronze Age cooking place, and past standing stones, huts and clocháns.
- 04Highest groundThe recording reaches approximately 411 m.
- 05Western finishThe line descends to a separate endpoint near sea level.
Everything beside the road is from the Archaeological Survey of Ireland, measured from the recorded GPX to each published coordinate: the fulacht fia KE043-261 and the unclassified stone group KE043-255, neither yet described on the Historic Environment Viewer; the standing stones KE043-174 and KE043-265; the clochán KE043-048; the hut sites KE043-119 and KE043-120001; and the cashel KE043-166. The described records come from J. Cuppage, Corca Dhuibhne: Dingle Peninsula Archaeological Survey (Ballyferriter, 1986). The triangular standing stone was identified by Ina Doyle and compiled by Caimin O’Brien. The stonework and waymarkers are shown in Rob’s photographs. An Chonair, recorded by the Placenames Database as Connor Hill Road in Garfinny parish, has not been securely identified with this recorded route, so it is not used to date or explain the Green Road.
Reading the forecast
WIND NOWReading the forecast
—cloud
—humidity
—km/h peak gust
Strongest wind today—
Peak gust—
RECENT RAINFALL · LIKELY GROUND
Reading the forecast
RAIN, GUST & VISIBILITY WINDOW
Reading the forecast
BEST HIKING WINDOW
Reading the forecast
DAYLIGHT PLAN
Reading the forecast
MET ÉIREANN · KERRY
Reading the forecast
NEXT SIX HOURS · swipe
Reading the forecast
HAZARDS & OPTIONSKnow the commitment.
Transport is required between the recorded start and finish.
Rough, wet or indistinct sections may slow progress.
Mountain weather can reduce visibility around the higher ground.
Old walls and historic structures should be left undisturbed.
If weather or ground conditions become unsuitable, return along the known section before committing to the crossing. Do not descend across enclosed land without confirming access.
FROM THE MOUNTAIN
Rob’s photographs.
TWO · YOU’VE DECIDED
Getting there.
Where it starts, the recorded file, and the checks worth making before you leave the house.
PLAN THE GROUND
Start well.
RECORDED STARTGreen Road trailhead
Select coordinates to copy
This is a point-to-point recording with different start and finish coordinates. Confirm transport, parking and current local access before leaving.
ROUTE FILE
Take the recorded route with you.
619 recorded track points, exactly as walked. Load it into your watch, phone or offline mapping before you leave signal.
Download original GPXan-bothar-glas.gpx · as recordedGeoJSONKML
Onto a watch: import the GPX into Garmin Connect, Komoot or Strava and send it to the device from there. On a phone, the Garmin Explore and OS Maps apps take the file straight from the share sheet.
BEFORE YOU GO
Read the ground. Keep your margin.
Conditions can change the seriousness of any recorded route.
Your quick checksOptional and saved only in this browser.
0/5 checkedThese checks support your planning; they do not confirm that the route is safe.
- 01Check conditionsReview forecasts and warnings before leaving.
- 02Navigate independentlyCarry suitable mapping and know how to use it.
- 03Protect your marginTurn back early if the day exceeds your experience.
- 04Share your planLeave your route and expected return time with someone.
Leave a plan.
Tell someone your route and return time. For emergencies in Ireland call 112 or 999 and ask for Mountain Rescue.
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