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Longest sightlines in Ireland?

  • 17-02-2020 9:49am
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭


    Over the past few months, I've been interested in trying to find out what the longest sightline in Ireland is. That is, what's the farthest point that can be seen when standing at a location.

    As far as I have been able to gather, the longest I can find that stays on the island of Ireland is that Caherconree near Camp, Kerry should be visible from Croaghaun, Achill at 199.6km.
    Other interesting long sightlines are:
    • Galtymore to Croagh Patrick for 183.9km
    • Galtymore to Slieve Anierin NE of Drumshambo, Co. Cavan for 192.5km
    • Brandon to Slievemore on Achill for 197.8km

    To get longer sightlines than 200km one would have to look over to the UK.
    • Errigal can see 202.9km to Ben More on the Isle of Mull.
    • Lugnaquilla can see 206.9km to a hill between Llyn Brianne and Claerwen Reservoir in central Wales.
    • But, the current max distance I could find was from Slieve Donard to a secondary 759m peak of Penygader, SW of Llyn Cau and not far from the Mach Loop, for a distance of 212.5km

      I've been using the panorama generator at udeuschle.de for this exercise, as it gives a handy max-distance-viewable. Though I know the results may vary depending on refraction, it's been fairly accurate from what I've seen so far.

      Personally, I've seen Nephin from the top of Keeper Hill for a distance of 158.3km on a lovely transparent day a few years ago (and got a crappy pic of it too).

      Does anyone know of longer or better sightlines on or from Ireland?


Comments

  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 15,685 Mod ✭✭✭✭smacl


    Possibly useful table here giving distance to the horizon for different altitudes which by my reckoning would have the furthest point at sea you could see from Ireland at just over 112km but you could obviously have line of sight to an elevated point much further away (224km max for two points at 1km above sea level with not occlusion). I'd guess older (pre-GPS era) OS trig pillars might be worth looking as potentially long sight lines.

    Seem to remember a line from An Beal Bocht where Bónapárt Ó Cúnasa reckons he could see Boston on a clear day from his house in Corca Dhorcha. Uisce beatha may have been taken. :pac:


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,943 ✭✭✭tabbey


    smacl wrote: »
    Seem to remember a line from An Beal Bocht where Bónapárt Ó Cúnasa reckons he could see Boston on a clear day from his house in Corca Dhorcha. Uisce beatha may have been taken. :pac:

    There are also a number of townlands called Boston, in Kildare, Laois and Tipperary, but unless he could bend his line of sight, they also would be invisible.


  • Registered Users Posts: 772 ✭✭✭baaba maal


    Great post OP
    I can't better the distance, but I was in the Bricklieve Hills ( I refuse to call them mountains!) over the weekend and the view was spectacular- given their height, it was stunning. I'm forever squinting through my binoculars trying to find the very farthest things on the horizon and there was a lot to see. That link is to the filthiest, best map porn I have seen in quite a while- it suggests a point in the Slieve Blooms at 124km- not bad at all.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,203 ✭✭✭dave 27


    I climbed Mt Brandon a couple of years ago on an extremely sunny February! From the top way off in the distance i could see a long mountain range which even on the clear day was barely visible but i can only imagine it could have been the connemara mountains?

    McGillycuddy reeks were to my right and not far away incase you think its that!


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    Here's the panorama for Mt Brandon looking north.
    https://www.peakfinder.org/?lat=52.2347&lng=-10.2544&azi=26&zoom=5&ele=923

    Certainly possible to have seen the mountains in Connemara, I've seen them myself and I've seen the reverse as well.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 13,574 ✭✭✭✭josip


    We're doing the county tops this year and it's very interesting seeing what county tops we can recognise from other county tops.
    The longest we've seen so far has been Kippure - Galteemore at 153km

    How reliable is the Peak Finder database ?
    The height they have listed for Binn Bhán is way off.

    xRcW2kR.png


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,081 ✭✭✭GetWithIt


    This might be of interest http://hilltops.ie/brandon/


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    I wonder which Benbaun it is highlighting.

    In general I've found PeakFinder to be pretty accurate. It pulls a lot of data from OpenStreetMap, so it should be possible to edit and correct errors.
    The DEM used is (iirc) from the Space Shuttle Topography mission, and some improvements from http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/

    That hilltops.ie page is good but incredibly broken from a user usability point of view, which is unfortunate.

    I still try and see if there are differing sightlines, and I do compare the sightlines seen with similar views from other online generators just to sanity check, and there's usually no issue, and I do make sure the underlying data is not the same.


  • Registered Users Posts: 89 ✭✭The Woodcock


    This is a fascinating topic.
    I grew up near the Devil's Bit in Tipperary and even though it's far from the highest mountain in the county, the views are great. We were always told growing up that you could see nine counties from the summit(Tipp, Offaly, Laois, Kilkenny, Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Clare and Galway), but I later realised that in fact you can see Mount Leinster on the Carlow/Wexford border as well as the Wicklow Mountains. I've also been told that you can see Cairn Hill north of Longford town.

    I've seen the top of Mount Brandon from Dún Ducathair on Inis Mór on a wonderfully clear spring day. Unfortunately when I got to the summit of Brandon years later visibility was down to about 20 metres.

    For anyone familiar with QGIS, there is a visibility analysis plugin that may be of use when combined with NASA SRTM rasters.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 2,254 ✭✭✭Nqp15hhu


    I can see the Paps of Jura which is around 60 miles away.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    We were always told growing up that you could see nine counties from the summit(Tipp, Offaly, Laois, Kilkenny, Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Clare and Galway), but I later realised that in fact you can see Mount Leinster on the Carlow/Wexford border as well as the Wicklow Mountains. I've also been told that you can see Cairn Hill north of Longford town.

    It's a fair bit more than nine :)

    https://www.heywhatsthat.com/?view=VDTLSWHD

    Munster:
      Tipp, Cork, Waterford, Clare, Kerry, Limerick.
    Connaught:
      Galway, Mayo, Leitrim, Roscommon
    Leinster:
      Westmeath, Kildare, Dublin, Wicklow, Carlow, Kilkenny, (just about Wexford at Croghan mtn), Offaly, Laois, Longford (Cairn hill indeed!)
    Ulster:
      Cavan and technically just over the border into Fermanagh in the North at Cuilcagh.

    Twenty two counties.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    Fathom wrote: »
    Kerry:

    Killarney National Park?

    Baurtregaum, between Inch Beach and Tralee.
    No visibility of the Carrauntouhill area from the Devil's Bit.


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