Hike the mountain which straddles Limerick and Tipp border — with views from Kerry to Wicklow

It's 918 metres up to the summit of Ireland's highest inland peak

John G O'Dwyer: "The circuit of Glencushnabinna in the Galtee Mountains is one of Ireland’s finest upland outings." Pictured — Lough Curra

If you hike the circuit of Glencushnabinna in the Galtee Mountains, you will soon become aware of completing one of Ireland’s finest upland outings, but you may be less cognisant of the abundant history beneath your boots.

Most likely you will follow a well-worn path from Clydagh Bridge Carpark through Glencush Wood before gaining open mountain and tagging a stony trail known as the Ice Road to reach Lough Curra — a corrie lake created by glaciation. Used to extract ice from the lake at a time when Irish winters were much colder, it was then placed in the ice houses of the large estates. These buildings created a microclimate which, before the invention of refrigerators, was used for cooling and preserving food.