Carrauntoohil Coffee Hut
A handy coffee stop by the Lisleibane trailhead after a day in the Reeks. Check Instagram for current opening times.
Lisleibane, MacGillycuddy’s Reeks, Co. KerryHardGully · Reeks · recorded
Brother
O’Shea’s.
A demanding recorded day through the Hag’s Glen, Cummeenoughter and Brother O’Shea’s Gully in the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks.
Also known as Eisc na bhFiach.
DISTANCE
10.62km
ASCENT
977m
HIGH POINT
1,024m
Rob’s recorded time 6 hr 46 · experienced hikers · 686 recorded track points · start and finish at Lisleibane car park 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 900 m
Approx. 900 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
From the glen to 1,024 m.
The GeoJSON provides elevation and cumulative distance at every recorded point, so this profile follows the actual activity rather than an estimate.
1,024 m196 m
Reading the forecast
0 km977 m ascent · 980 m descent10.62 km
THE LINE
Three coums, a gully, and the man it is named after.
The climb from the Hag’s Glen passes through a staircase of glacial hollows beneath Carrauntoohil. Their names describe that ascent: Coimín Íochtair is the lower little coum, Coimín Láir the middle one and Coimín Uachtair the upper. The last holds Lough Cummeenoughter, reported as Ireland’s highest lake at 707 m.
The gully is named after Michael Laurence O’Shea, an Irish Christian Brother who died on Carrauntoohil on 24 July 1969, aged sixty-eight. The Coroner for Kerry held the inquest four days later and certified cerebral haemorrhage and fractures from an accidental fall. Kerry Mountain Rescue searched the mountain and brought his body down, and the gully has carried his name since. Before him it was Collins Gully, and before that Eisc na bhFiach, the channel of the raven. It is worth knowing whose name you are using on the way up.
The Faill Dubh, or dark cliff, flanks the gully on the right as you climb from Coimín Uachtair. Its position matters: another similarly named cliff appears towards the Devil’s Ladder, on a different part of the mountain.
The cairn you top out beside is six metres by five, loose flat slabs gathered off the summit scree and rebuilt at some point into a climbers’ shelter. The Survey calls its antiquity dubious. The iron cross north of it went up in 1950.
- 01Lisleibane → Hag’s GlenEstablished approach into the mountain.
- 02CummeenoughterComplex mountain ground beneath Carrauntoohil’s north-east face.
- 03Brother O’Shea’s GullySteep, serious terrain requiring confident navigation.
- 04ReturnThe recorded track returns on a distinct line to the start.
O’Shea’s death is registered at Killorglin, Co. Kerry, entry 158 of 1969: died 24 July 1969 on Carrauntoohil Mountain, Irish Christian Brother, aged 68, the cause certified as cerebral haemorrhage and fractures from an accidental fall on information from Dr O’Donovan, Coroner for Kerry, inquest held 28 July 1969. See the register page ↗. Kerry Mountain Rescue’s 1966–1979 callout archive ↗ records the search and recovery, and notes that the area is now known as Brother O’Shea’s Gully. The archive’s dates are month-precise at best, forty of its forty-five dated entries falling on the first. The personal name, Collins Gully, the older Eisc na bhFiach and the coum names follow Barry Dalby’s Coimín Uachtair & Brother O’Shea (4 July 2022) ↗. Dalby’s bhFiach and the archive’s bhfiach are the sources’ own spellings. The summit cairn is Archaeological Survey record KE073-047, described from A. O’Sullivan and J. Sheehan, The Iveragh Peninsula: An Archaeological Survey of South Kerry (Cork University Press, 1996); the recorded line passes within six metres of it. The lake’s height and description as Ireland’s highest are reported in the Irish Times ↗.
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.
Steep gully terrain with broken, loose or wet rock; the gully is full of scree and moves underfoot.
Exposed ground continues above the gully; topping out does not mark the end of the difficult terrain.
Complex navigation beneath Carrauntoohil’s north-east face, especially in cloud.
Water, wind, ice or winter conditions can quickly increase the seriousness.
A long descent remains after the high point; protect time and daylight.
Before entering the gully, reversing the known approach is the conservative option if conditions deteriorate. Once committed to steep terrain, this guide does not prescribe a simple escape. Make the decision to turn back early.
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 STARTLisleibane car park
Select coordinates to copy
The recorded start is at Lisleibane car park on the Hag’s Glen approach. Confirm current parking arrangements locally and follow all signs and landowner directions.
ROUTE FILE
Take the recorded route with you.
686 recorded track points, exactly as walked. Load it into your watch, phone or offline mapping before you leave signal.
Track geometry and activity time come from the GPX. Elevation, cumulative distance, ascent and descent come from the matching GeoJSON supplied by @kerrymountains.rob.
Download original GPXbrother-osheas.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
This is not a beginner route.
A proper mountain day needs a proper plan.
Brother O’Shea’s Gully is mountain terrain where navigation, weather and ground conditions matter. Kerry Mountain Rescue describes this route as taking in spectacular but serious scenery beneath Carrauntoohil’s north-east face.
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.
- 01Navigate independentlyCarry a paper map and compass and know how to use them.
- 02Keep a backupAvoid relying on a phone or this GPX alone.
- 03Know when to turnTurn back if cloud, wind, rain or winter conditions exceed 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.
More recorded routes.
All 29 recorded routes →AFTER THE WALK
Post-hike picks.
A small, personal shortlist around Lisleibane and the Reeks. Check current opening times before making the journey.