Overview
Slievenanee is a 543m (1,781ft) dome of blanket bog in the Antrim Hills, rising directly above the village of Cargan in Glenravel. It’s an Arderin summit and the 438th highest in Ireland, and it sits immediately south-west of Trostan (551m), the county’s high point, which it’s most often climbed alongside. Be honest with yourself about what it is: not a dramatic peak, but a wet, quiet moorland walk that pays out a genuinely long view on the handful of days the cloud lifts.
The name, and the iron
The name is usually glossed as Sliabh na Nia, ‘mountain of the warriors’, and it appears that way in the 12th-century Middle Irish tale Buile Shuibhne (The Frenzy of Suibhne). But there’s a competing reading that’s hard to wave away: Sliabh an Iarann, ‘iron mountain’. Because iron is exactly what came out of this hill. Slievenanee was a serious 19th-century iron-ore field, with the first underground mine opened in 1867 on the southern slope, and the connection is real enough that the Glenravel International Furnace Festival now runs heritage tours of the mines. No recorded battle was ever fought up here; the ore, on the other hand, is documented.
The bog itself is being looked after. In 2023 a restoration project used wool logs to repair damaged peatland on Slievenanee, the kind of low-key conservation work that keeps an upland like this holding water rather than shedding it.
The walk
Most people take Slievenanee as part of a round with Trostan rather than on its own. The col between the two, at around 443m, is the natural checkpoint, and a fence line running between the summits is the single most useful navigation aid on this featureless plateau – follow it, and leave it deliberately at the turn for the summit.
The common short start is the high lay-by on the Orra road between Newtowncrommelin and Cushendall, one of the highest public roads in Northern Ireland at about 415m, which spares you a lot of ascent. From there it’s roughly an hour up, keeping the fence on your side and picking through boggy ground the whole way. The terrain is the story here: it is consistently, seriously wet, and sturdy waterproof boots are not optional. Trail runners will be soaked and struggling inside ten minutes. The area is covered by OSNI Discoverer sheet 9.
From the summit
The high point is marked only by a peat hag – no cairn to speak of, no pillar. On a clear day the view runs across the North Channel to the Antrim coast and inland to the Sperrins, and Rathlin Island and the Scottish isles can show on the best days, though that’s the exception rather than the rule up here. The plateau is classic upland: peat, heather and bilberry over the odd rocky outcrop, with meadow pipits and skylarks working the air above it.
Practical information
- Height: 543m (1,781ft)
- Prominence: about 98–100m (sources disagree)
- Grid reference: D167214
- Map sheet: OSNI Discoverer 9
- Parent summit: Trostan
- Nearest village: Cargan, in Glenravel
- Parking: the free high lay-by on the Orra road is the usual start
- Dogs: fine on the open hill, though the bog is hard going on paws
- Best time: late spring to early autumn for drier ground and heather in bloom
Safety and preparation
The Antrim Hills take the full force of Atlantic weather and conditions turn fast. The ground is notoriously wet, so waterproof boots with aggressive tread are essential. Navigation is easy enough in good visibility, but mist closes in quickly and swallows both the fence lines and the plateau’s few landmarks – carry a map and compass, or a charged GPS with the route loaded, and don’t rely on being able to see the way back. There are no facilities on the hill: no gates, signage or shelter. Sort your water, food and layers before you leave the road, check the Mountain Weather Information Service forecast, and start early to beat the afternoon cloud.