Cupán Sé
Rob’s pick for coffee, at the pier below Dún Chaoin, with açaí bowls too. Check Instagram for current opening times.
Cé Dhún Chaoin (Dunquin Pier), Co. KerryModerateCoastal hill · Dingle
Cruach
Mhárthain.
A circuit from Dún Chaoin (Dunquin) onto the rocky heights of Cruach Mhárthain, with open Atlantic views, a search for Altóir na Gréine and a return through Mám Clasach (the Clasach).
Also known as Croaghmarhin.
DISTANCE
10.41km
ASCENT
493m
HIGH POINT
391m
Rob’s recorded time 2 hr 59 · open hillside, a steep summit climb and an exploratory section 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
From the village to the rocks.
The main climb comes before the exploratory ground. Smaller rises follow before the long descent through Mám Clasach to Dún Chaoin.
Reading the forecast
493 m ascent · 493 m descent
THE LINE
Looking for the sun altar.
The climb begins near sea level at Dún Chaoin, on lanes and hill tracks towards the open slopes of Cruach Mhárthain. The upper climb is steeper, ending among tilted slabs of rock with the sea spread out below.
This is the full circuit, including the wandering section to the north-east after the summit during the search for Altóir na Gréine. The recording stops about 930 metres short of the tomb’s recorded position, measured in a straight line, before turning south towards Mám Clasach and following the road back down the valley to Dún Chaoin.
Kirrary
About 2.5 km into the climb, the line passes within metres of where David Lean built Kirrary, the village of Ryan’s Daughter. The Irish Times reports that 800 tons of granite were hauled up the hill, and that twenty British craftsmen and as many as 200 local people built it. Filming ran from November 1968 to December 1969. The village was taken down afterwards; the cobbled street that ran through it is what remains, and the route walks it. For the rest of the film on the ground, a guided walk is listed under After the walk.
Altóir na Gréine
The tomb is recorded at Baile Uí Bhaoithín, on the ridge above Baile an Fheirtéaraigh. Lady Chatterton published an engraving of what she called a sun altar after visiting in 1838; by 1852 Richard Hitchcock reported its stones broken up for building. Local archaeologist Billy Mag Fhloinn later identified a likely site: three slabs, one upright, its outline like a support in the engraving. The Survey accepts the identification, which does not make the surviving stones an intact tomb.
The name means Altar of the Sun. A 1939 Schools’ Collection account links it to Mass in Penal Times and the rising sun shining on the place, a local tradition distinct from Chatterton’s talk of sun sacrifice. Reaching it would be a separate undertaking, with its own route and access checks, not an extension to follow from this line.
An Teampall
The old parish church of Dún Chaoin stands in its graveyard about 130 metres from the line. There was a church here by the end of the thirteenth century; in 1615 the vicarage was “waste voyde”, and by 1756 the church was a ruin. Only its north wall stands to height, the interior filled with tombs. A 2010 graveyard survey calls it the most westerly Christian church and graveyard in Europe.
Two wedge tombs lie near the return through Baile an Teampaill, one about 115 metres off the line and largely hidden in bog, the other about 130 metres off the road. Near Mám Clasach, 110 metres east, is a ring-barrow. These positions establish proximity, not a way in or permission to enter.
- 01Dún Chaoin approachLanes and hill tracks gain height from the village, along the cobbled street of the Kirrary film set, towards the open hillside.
- 02Cruach MhárthainThe steeper final climb reaches the rocky high point, with broad coastal views in clear weather.
- 03Exploratory groundThe recording continues north-east with several changes of direction during the tomb search.
- 04Mám Clasach and returnTurn south towards the pass, then follow the road down through the valley to Dún Chaoin.
Cruach Mhárthain and Croaghmarhin are paired in the 2011 Placenames Order, entry 425. Altóir na Gréine follows Archaeological Survey record KE042-149, supplied by Rob, compiled by Caimin O’Brien from Billy Mag Fhloinn’s research. It draws on Chatterton (1839), Hitchcock (1852), de Valera and Ó Nualláin (1982) and the Schools’ Collection tradition. The wedge tombs are records KE042-132008 and KE052-016 and the ring-barrow KE042-133, derived from J. Cuppage, Corca Dhuibhne: Dingle Peninsula Archaeological Survey (1986), nos. 24, 31 and 253. An Teampall is KE052-014001 to KE052-014006, which quote Laurence Dunne’s 2010 graveyard survey. Kirrary’s build and dates are from Kevin Sweeney, “Hollywood film ended lean time”, The Irish Times, 19 May 2007; its position and the surviving street from Deep Maps Kerry, which credits Micheál de Mórdha’s An Rialtas Ab Fhearr!, and Rob’s own photograph of it. Distances are measured from the recorded coordinates to Rob’s supplied track, not along walking routes.
Forecast for around 400 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.
A steep climb over open hillside and rock, with slippery grass and slabs when wet.
The summit and upper slopes are exposed to Atlantic wind and low cloud.
Boggy and uneven ground can slow progress away from the main tracks.
The return includes narrow roads shared with traffic.
If visibility or footing deteriorates on the climb, return by the known approach. Leave out the exploratory ground if you cannot navigate it confidently, and do not improvise a shortcut down unfamiliar slopes.
CRUACH MHÁRTHAIN
Rob’s photographs.
03 · GO
Getting there.
Start well.
STARTDún Chaoin
Select coordinates to copy
The recording starts and finishes in Dún Chaoin. Confirm a suitable legal parking place locally; the start coordinate does not identify a designated car park. Keep gateways and narrow lanes clear, respect livestock and follow current access signs.
ROUTE FILE
Take the route with you.
Includes the exploratory search beyond the summit. The recording comes no closer than about 930 m to Altóir na Gréine’s recorded position and does not provide a route to the tomb.
Distance and elevation are calculated from the supplied GeoJSON; elapsed time comes from the matching GPX, recorded on 17 March 2024 and exported on 25 September 2026. The unaltered GPX has no elevations; the website profile uses the GeoJSON. All figures include the exploratory section.
Download original GPXcruach-mharthain.gpx · Recorded 17 March 2024 · full circuit
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.
Read the ground. Keep your margin.
Conditions can change the seriousness of any route.
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
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 31 routes →AFTER THE WALK
Post-hike picks.
A small, personal shortlist around the western Dingle Peninsula.
Kruger’s
Rob’s pick in Dún Chaoin itself, where the walk finishes. Check Instagram for current opening times.
Dún Chaoin, Co. KerryOn Location Film Walk
Maurice Galway’s guided walk from the Blasket Centre, taking in Ryan’s Daughter locations including the old schoolhouse, with views of Ceann Sibéal from Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Book ahead.
Ionad an Bhlascaoid, Dún Chaoin, Co. Kerry