Overview
Rossmackowen Church is a small stone chapel on the R572, the coast road between Glengarriff and Castletownbere on the Beara Peninsula. The building is plain and there is little to see inside; what brings people here is what lies behind it. This is the roadside marker for the climb up Hungry Hill, and it sits on a waymarked stretch of the Beara Way. Beara is the long finger of land between the Kenmare River and Bantry Bay, with the Caha Mountains and the Slieve Miskish running down its spine; from the churchyard the road bends to open up Bantry Bay and the coast below.
The chapel is one of the scattered settlements of west Beara, the district that runs out through Castletownbere, Bere Island, Eyeries, Allihies and Cahermore. It is the kind of plain rectangular church built to serve spread-out farming townlands, and it is still in use for worship.
Walking: Hungry Hill and the Beara Way
For walkers, Rossmackowen Church is really an access point for some of Beara’s hardest terrain.
The Hungry Hill scramble
The junction between the R572 and a minor road about 300 metres east of the church marks the start of the climb to Hungry Hill, at 685 metres the highest of the Caha Mountains. It is a serious outing: steep ground among rock outcrops, needing careful route-finding and some easy scrambling. Hillwalking guides start the ascent at the dip in the track past the second Beara Way marker, heading straight up before working right toward the spine of the ridge and keeping left of the larger outcrops. The ground steepens sharply at the foot of a high crag, where a narrow track leads up around it, then continues over rock bands to a cairn at 667 metres, with the main summit cairn beyond across the bog. On a clear day the view runs across the Cork and Kerry mountains to Cape Clear, Fastnet Rock and the Skelligs.
The descent needs just as much care, following the county boundary north before dropping through the outcrops to the bog road. The full circuit is a seven-to-eight-hour undertaking for experienced hillwalkers only, and it should not be attempted in mist – the navigation is unforgiving.
An easier option
For something gentler, the church sits on a well-marked section of the Beara Way. Guided operators such as West Cork Walks run a route from Adrigole to Castletownbere; the 10-kilometre ‘easy’ version passes Park Lough and Coomnagapple Glen before dropping to the main road near Rossmackowen Church, with a minibus back to the start. Longer waymarked walks pass this way too, through open ground threaded with local folklore – including the grave of Princess Beara, the Spanish princess who, the story goes, married a local chieftain and gave the peninsula its name.
Practical information
Rossmackowen Church is open to the public at all times, with no admission charge, and remains an active place of worship.
Getting there: The church is on the R572 between Glengarriff and Castletownbere. From Castletownbere, head east on the R572 for about 9 kilometres; the church is on the left, the landward side, clearly visible from the road.
Parking: A small lay-by opposite the chapel gives free parking – enough for a short stop, but take care pulling in and out on the single-lane road.
Facilities: None at the church – no toilets, café or information desk. The nearest food and fuel are in Castletownbere, a short drive away.
Accessibility: The church sits on a level paved roadside and is easy to reach, but the walking routes around it involve uneven, steep and exposed ground. The Hungry Hill route is hard and best left to experienced walkers with proper boots and weather gear.
Walkers planning to tackle Hungry Hill should carry the Ordnance Survey Ireland Discovery Series map (sheet 84) and check the forecast carefully; the exposed ridge becomes dangerous in wet or misty weather.