The view
From this lay-by high on the shoulder of Mount Leinster you can see eight counties on a clear day – Carlow, Laois, Kildare, Wicklow, Wexford, Waterford, Kilkenny and Tipperary – and, when the air is really clean, the Welsh coast far to the east. The point sits on the saddle between Mount Leinster, the highest of the Blackstairs, and Slievebawn, on the Carlow–Wexford border. If you do one thing here, it is simply to stand at the rail and pick out the counties; the view is the attraction.
The local name is Coolasnaghta, from the Irish Cúil an tSneachta, the ‘nook of snow’ – no flourish, but a warning: at this height snow lies here weeks after it has gone from the fields below. The drive up from Bunclody crosses open heath and Coillte plantation, and you will often see semi-wild horses grazing the slopes.
The nine stones
Just off the road stands the feature the place is named for: a low row of nine stones, roughly aligned north-east to south-west, the tallest barely 0.6 m high. They are, honestly, an anticlimax after that drive – no astronomical alignment, possibly not even very old – but they carry more folklore than most grander monuments. One story makes them the graves of nine shepherds lost in a snowstorm. Another, written down in the 1930s Dúchas Schools Collection, ties them to the 1798 Rebellion: nine men from Father Murphy’s army run down by Captain Irvine’s troops after the Battle of Newtownbarry. A third warns that if you find a stone shifted out of line and don’t set it back, it will hop up and clip you on the legs.
Walks and the hills
This is a staging post for walkers on the Blackstairs. Two National Waymarked Trails start from here, both graded easy and both around three hours: Nine Stones to Borris, 10.6 km, and Nine Stones to Kildavin, 11.6 km, on forest tracks, hillside paths and minor roads. Both form part of the South Leinster Way, which runs from Kildavin to Carrick-on-Suir. For a stiffer outing, the summit of Mount Leinster is a steady, unmarked climb of about an hour above the viewpoint. The whole Blackstairs range, this saddle included, is a Special Area of Conservation for its dry heath; the rock underfoot is slate holding beds of quartzite and mudstone.
Practical information
- Getting here and parking: a small lay-by and car park sit right at the viewpoint. It fills fast on sunny weekends and through the autumn colour, and the roads up are narrow and winding – take them slowly.
- Facilities: picnic tables and information boards, and nothing else – no toilets, no café. There is a €49,000 feasibility study looking at whether to add a café and amenities here, but for now bring your own flask.
- Accessibility: the car park and immediate viewing area are compacted gravel; beyond that the ground is uneven and steep, and not wheelchair accessible.
- Dogs: welcome on a lead – there is livestock, and there are loose horses.
- Safety: mountain weather changes fast. It is colder and windier up here than in the valley even in summer, so pack layers, waterproofs, water and a charged phone.
Nearby
The Mount Leinster Heritage Drive, which climbs from Myshall across the mountain’s slope to the Nine Stones, links the viewpoint with:
- Borris House – the Kavanagh family’s estate, with guided tours of house and gardens.
- Borris Railway Viaduct – a 19th-century stone viaduct with a 3.5 km walk beneath its arches.
- Brownshill Dolmen – one of Ireland’s largest portal tombs, north of the mountains.
- Borris – a Georgian village of cafés and craft shops, and the start of the viaduct walk.