Binn Chaonaigh – ‘peak of the moss’ in Irish – is the fourth-highest of the Maumturks, the long quartzite spine that runs through the heart of Connemara in County Galway. At 633 m it is not the tallest in the range, but it sits right above the Máméan pass, which makes it one of the most rewarding to climb and ties it to one of the oldest pilgrimage sites in the west. This is bare, rocky, exposed hillwalking on grass and quartzite, not a waymarked trail – go in good visibility and know how to use a map and compass.
The walk
The standard way up is from the car park on the Máméan road: a steep pull of about 400 m onto the summit and back, roughly 6 km, a half-day at 2 to 3 hours. The ascent from the chapel is genuinely steep and feels almost exposed in places, and the grassy slopes turn slippery in the wet, so it is one to save for a dry day.
To make more of it, the classic loop carries on north-west along the ridge to Binn idir an Dá Log, at 702 m the highest point in the Maumturks, and drops back via Maumahoge – about 13 km and 850 m of climbing over 5 to 6 hours. A short detour east takes in the subsidiary top of Binn Mhairg (612 m) for the view down the valley to the north-east.
Then there is the serious one. Binn Chaonaigh is a stage on the Maamturks Challenge, a 25 km traverse of the whole range from Maam Cross to Leenaun with around 7,600 ft of ascent – rated ‘extreme grade’ and one of the great classic ridge-walks of Ireland. The University College Galway Mountaineering Club has run it every year since 1975, manning checkpoints at Maumeen and at Binn idir an Dá Log. It is a 10 to 12 hour day for the very fit and well-prepared, not a casual outing.
Máméan and Saint Patrick
The cultural weight of the hill is gathered on its lower southern slopes, above the Máméan pass on the pass’s northern side. Máméan has been a site of pilgrimage to Saint Patrick for centuries, and a cluster of relics is set into the ground here: a holy well, a cleft in the rock called Saint Patrick’s Bed (Leaba Phádraig) where the saint is said to have slept, a circle of stones for the Stations of the Cross, and a Mass Rock (Carraig an Aifrinn) from the penal era, when Catholic worship was outlawed.
The pilgrimage had faded by the mid-20th century until Fr Micheál MacGréil revived it in 1979. A small chapel, Cillín Phádraig, went up in the 1980s, and in 1986 the sculptor Cliodhna Cussen added a bronze of Saint Patrick as a shepherd. The pilgrimages run three times a year – Saint Patrick’s Day, Good Friday and the first Sunday in August – and the short walk in from the car park to the well, the stones and the chapel is worth doing even if you never go higher.
Practical information
- Access and parking: The trailhead is the Máméan pass car park (grid L892495), reached on the minor Máméan road off the N59 near Maam Cross. Parking is limited and fills on summer weekends, so arrive early.
- Navigation: Use OSi Discovery sheet 37; the summit is at grid L900515. There is no mobile signal to rely on along the ridge – carry map and compass.
- Conditions: The direct climb is steep but moderate; the ridge run to Binn idir an Dá Log is exposed with loose ground and is hazardous in frost or snow, when ice axe and crampons are needed.
- Facilities: None on the hill. Nearest services are at Maam Cross; pack all your own food and water.
- Weather: It turns fast in the Maumturks. Check Met Éireann and turn back if cloud drops onto the tops.
Nearby
- Benbaun – the highest of the Twelve Bens across the Inagh Valley, a harder, rockier day.
- Benbrack – a quieter quartzite peak on the northern edge of the Bens, with the best view of Kylemore Abbey from above.
For the track and route detail, MountainViews has the central Maumturks loop over Binn Chaonaigh and Binn idir an Dá Log.