Mt Brandon
https://www.activeme.ie/guides/mount-brandon-walking-route-from-faha-kerry-ireland
Steeped in Irish Mythology and Pagan History, the most scenic walking route to the summit of Mount Brandon (952m or 3.123 feet), Irelands 9th highest mountain is the from Faha near Cloghane Village. Located on the Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry in the south West of Ireland this walk is only 40mins from Tralee and one of the best and fascinating mountain walks along the Wild Atlantic Way. This is a moderate to strenuous but extremely rewarding 8.5km (4 hour) trail which starts from the car park near the Faha Grotto, a popular starting point with space for roughly 10 cars.In Irish, Brandon mountain is known as Cnoc Bréanainn which translates as Brendan’s Hill referring to St. Brendan the Navigator born near Tralee in 484 AD and who some say was the first European to discover America nearly 1,000 years before Columbus. In fact, it is said that Christopher Columbus relied on the St. Brendan story as part of his argument that it was possible to travel to Asia by crossing the Atlantic. However, with the much earlier pagan legend of Bran, a god of regeneration in Irish Mythology, it is disputed whether the mountain took its name from Bran or Saint Brendan the Navigator. The Voyage of Bran from early Irish Mythology was first written down in the late 7th century to early 8th century and the poem shares similar themes and elements with the much later Voyage of Saint Brendan from the early to mid 10th century with the first preserved Saint Brendan and the whale from a 15th-century manuscript written version of the legend being Dutch, dating from the 12th century and called Des Reis van Sint Brandaen. Early Christians in Ireland readily adopted and fused Pagan Gods with Christian Saints, such as St Brigit who seamlessly evolved from an earlier pagan goddess Bríg or Brigid, a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann and daughter of the Dagda who was a goddess of spring growth, fertility, healing, poetry and smith craft. Worshipping the sun and weather in Ireland, there was no “first man and woman” Adam and Eve style mythology in Ireland, just wave after wave of invasion stories and legends. Mount Brandon itself is also the end of a early ancient pagan trail celebrating the pagan Celtic harvest festival of Lughnasadh. The festival takes its name from the Irish god Lugh, one of the gods of the Tuatha De Danann, giving us Lughnasadh in Ireland and is the origin of the modern celebration of Halloween. In Kerry, the nearest Sunday to Lughnasa was known as Domhnach Chrom Dubh or Crom Dubh’s Sunday, a local pagan figure who was eventually converted to Christianity by St. Brendan and this is celebrated on the last Sunday of July with a pilgrimage to the summit of Brandon Mountain. This ancient pagan trail from the east is now a Christian pilgrimage trail but the main Pilgrim Path is known as Cosán na Naomh and approaches Mount Brandon from the west on a longer more gentle slope. Other great ancient Pagan Trails and modern Christian Pilgrim Paths and pilgrimage trails located on mountain tops along the west of Ireland and the Wild Atlantic Way include:
