The walk from Kings Yard
A plain white cross marks the top of The Pinnacle, and the surest way to reach it is an 11 km there-and-back from Kings Yard, where there is ample parking, a shop and, the detail that earns its keep on a Ballyhoura morning, hot drinks before you set off. Reckon on five to six hours for the round trip. It is a long day out rather than a hard one: steady climbing over open ground rather than anything you would call a scramble.
This is the route to do. You will see The Pinnacle described elsewhere as a tidy loop between the towns of Kilfinnane and Ballylanders, but that is not a marked walk on the ground, and stitching it together across farmland and lanes is more trouble than it is worth. Start and finish at Kings Yard and you always know where the car is.
Bring boots and a waterproof, and don’t rely on your phone: mobile signal comes and goes across the higher ground, so download an offline map before you leave the car park.
The summit
Slievereagh sits in the Ballyhoura range on the Limerick–Cork border, one of a run of broad, heathery tops rather than a sharp peak. The name is usually taken to mean the grey or brindled mountain, from the Irish Sliabh Riabhach, and the hill lives up to it: this is open, grazed upland, big skies and little shelter.
The reward at the cross is the view, out across the patchwork farmland of Limerick and Tipperary. It is a wide, quiet panorama rather than a dramatic one, and it comes into its own in the low, raking light of early morning or late afternoon, which is also when the camera does best.
The Ballyhoura Way
The Pinnacle sits just north of the Ballyhoura Way, an 89 km National Waymarked Trail that runs from St John’s Bridge near Kanturk in County Cork to Limerick Junction in County Tipperary. It was opened in April 1994 by President Mary Robinson, forms part of the long Beara-Breifne Way, and is usually walked over four days at a moderate grade. If you have the legs and the logistics, the summit makes a natural high point on a longer through-walk rather than a day trip.
Kilfinnane
The nearest town, Kilfinnane, is a small market town in the south-east corner of County Limerick with a past in flax weaving and tweed. The name means the church of Saint Finian. In the square, a memorial remembers Patrick Staker Wallis, a local man executed after the 1798 Rebellion. It is a fine place to end the day with something to eat.
Practical information
Getting there and parking
Head for Kings Yard for the summit walk, where the car park, shop and refreshments make it the obvious base. Public transport into this corner of Limerick is thin, so a car is the realistic option; check any bus timetable in advance and allow for the return.
On the hill
The going is generally forgiving, but Irish mountain weather turns fast and there is no shelter up top. Carry a waterproof, a warm layer and food and water for the day, even in summer, and start early enough to be back well before dusk.
Dogs and families
The route suits families with older children who can handle a full day on their feet. This is working hill country, so keep dogs on a lead near grazing sheep, and closer still in the spring and early-summer nesting season. There are no taps or reliable streams once you are climbing, so carry water for the dog as well as yourselves.
Nearby attractions
- Ballyhoura Country – the visitor hub and trailheads for the region’s purpose-built mountain-biking network, an easy way to fill an afternoon after a morning on the hill.
- Kilfinnane – market square, heritage buildings and the 1798 memorial, a short walk end to end.
- Limerick Greenway – a traffic-free rail trail for a gentle finish on tired legs.
Fuel up at Kings Yard before you climb, not after; there is nothing on the hill, and the cross is a long way from the last cup of coffee.