Murphy’s Bar Brandon
A family-run pub and restaurant at Brandon Pier, with food, local seafood and views across the bay. Check Instagram for current kitchen times.
Brandon Pier, Co. Kerry, V92 T680HardLakes · Dingle
Binn na bPórt
and the Paternoster Lakes.
A demanding circuit from Cloghane, climbing Binn na bPórt before descending into Com a Chnoic and following the chain of Paternoster Lakes to Loch na Lice.
Also known as Benagh, or the Peak of the Music.
DISTANCE
11.98km
ASCENT
947m
HIGH POINT
824m
My time 7 hr 11 · steep, remote mountain circuit 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.
01 · DECIDE
Is this your day?
ELEVATION PROFILE
Over Binn na bPórt at 824 m.
The circuit gains 947 m, climbing from Cloghane to Binn na bPórt before a substantial descent through the corrie and lake chain.
Reading the forecast
947 m ascent · 952 m descent
THE LINE
A walled summit, then a chain of mountain lakes.
The route climbs from Cloghane to Binn na bPórt, Benagh on the Ordnance Survey sheet, reaching 824 m above the Brandon corries.
The fort on the promontory
The mountain carries a fort, and a strange, serious one. A narrow triangular promontory juts east from Brandon at 762 m, its north and south sides ending in precipitous cliffs. Two drystone walls cut across it, between 100 and 120 m apart. The outer wall runs in a slight arc from cliff edge to cliff edge for about 100 m. It’s roughly two metres wide at the base and mostly a metre or less high now, but close to two metres where it has survived best. The entrance is still legible as a simple gap in it. The second wall, 40 to 50 m long, has fared worse.
Higher than Caherconree?
The Archaeological Survey records it as closely related to Caherconree in both its position and the way it was built, and Caherconree is the fort people usually mean: the one the literature names as the highest stone promontory fort in the country, at 625 m. This one is at 762 m, and neither figure is the height of the mountain above it. Whether that makes it the highest in Ireland is not for this page to settle, but it is a fair question to carry up the hill.
Down to the Paternoster Lakes
From the summit the route drops into Com a Chnoic, then works outward beside the linked Paternoster Lakes to Loch na Lice before closing the circuit back at Cloghane. It’s a full mountain day.
- 01CloghaneThe circuit begins at approximately 177 m and takes the mountain approach above the village.
- 02Binn na bPórtA sustained climb reaches the 824 m high point above the Brandon corries.
- 03Com a ChnoicThe line descends steeply from the summit into the mountain hollow.
- 04Paternoster LakesThe return follows the linked chain of corrie lakes through remote, uneven ground.
- 05Loch na LiceThe route passes the outer lake before turning back towards Cloghane.
Binn na bPórt is the form recorded by the Placenames Database, which gives the English as Benagh Fort; the mountain is Benagh on Ordnance Survey maps. It is read locally as the Peak of the Music, for the sound the wind keeps up across the rock and the cliff edge. The Irish pórt carries more than one sense, and one of them is a fort or a mound, which on a summit holding two walls is hard to ignore, so the reading here is the local telling rather than the settled answer. The site sits in the townland of Cluain Searrach, and the pilgrim path to Cnoc Bhréanainn crosses the lower slope of the mountain. The Archaeological Survey lists the fort as KE034-048, An Fhaiche; its description comes from Barry Raftery by way of the Corca Dhuibhne survey, the surveyors not having reached the site themselves. Placename recorded by the Placenames Database of Ireland ↗
Forecast for around 800 m
Reading the forecast…
NOW
WIND
TODAY’S PEAK RAIN CHANCE
Reading the forecast…
–cloud
–humidity
–km/h peak gust
Strongest wind today–
Peak gust–
RECENT RAINFALL · LIKELY GROUND
NEXT SIX HOURS · swipe
Reading the forecast
Forecast. This is a modelled estimate for this route’s high ground; conditions can differ sharply across the mountain. Derived from Open-Meteo forecast data ↗.
HAZARDS & OPTIONSKnow the commitment.
Nearly 950 m of ascent and descent over rough mountain ground.
The descent from Binn na bPórt into Com a Chnoic is steep and may be slippery or difficult in poor visibility.
The corrie and lake chain are remote, wet and uneven, with limited easy escape options.
Cloud can remove visual references on the summit and obscure the line between the lakes.
Streams and lake outflows may become difficult after prolonged or heavy rain.
Make the decision to continue before committing to the descent into Com a Chnoic. If cloud, wind or ground conditions are poor on the climb, retreat along the known approach. Once among the lakes, follow the recorded exit rather than attempting an improvised escape over steep corrie walls.
ABOVE THE PATERNOSTER LAKES
My photographs.
03 · GO
Getting there.
Start well.
STARTCloghane
Select coordinates to copy
The walk starts and finishes near Cloghane. Confirm suitable parking locally without blocking homes, farms or emergency access, and respect all signs, livestock and private property along the approach.
ROUTE FILE
Take the route with you.
The original GPX, exactly as walked. Load it into your watch, phone or offline mapping before you leave signal.
Distance, time, track and heights come from my own GPX.
Download original GPXbinn-na-port-paternoster-lakes.gpx · as recorded
Confirm the download when your browser asks, then open the file from your browser’s downloads and your mapping app will offer to take it. HiiKER and Garmin Explore both do; the route loads on HiiKER’s free tier, though its EastWest mapping of the Irish uplands is a paid layer. Onto a watch: import the GPX into Garmin Connect, Komoot or Strava and send it to the device from there.
A high summit above remote corrie ground.
Keep enough margin for the descent and the long route out through the lakes.
The route commits to steep, remote ground after Binn na bPórt. Navigation, weather and water levels all need to be considered before leaving Cloghane.
Before you leave
- Check the forecast and warnings
- Plan your daylight
- Save the GPX or an offline map
- Pack footwear and layers
- Share your route and return time
- 01Check the mountain forecastAssess cloud base, wind, rainfall and warnings for the full day.
- 02Navigate independentlyCarry a paper map and compass and know how to use them in cloud.
- 03Decide before descendingTurn back before Com a Chnoic if the ground or weather exceeds your experience.
Leave a plan.
Tell someone your route and return time. For emergencies in Ireland call 112 or 999 and ask for Mountain Rescue.
More in Dingle
All 33 routes →AFTER THE WALK
Post-hike picks.
A small, personal shortlist around Cloghane and Brandon.