At their peak ...

ADOPTED Irishwoman, the aviatrix Daphne Pochin Mould wrote the first book about Irish mountains in 1955.

The Mountains of Ireland was an informative study replete with science and lore. Since then, dozens of books have been written on the topic.

According to Fáilte Ireland, the favourite activity of tourists to Ireland is hillwalking/trekking, ahead of golf, angling and cycling. Fáilte Ireland statistics for 2009 claim 250,000 overseas visitors participated in hiking or hillwalking here and spent €494m.