Overview
The cliffs are the reason to come. Tievebaun’s eastern and northern faces drop away in bare limestone, and the pinnacles below them include Eagle’s Rock – at 330 m (1,083 ft), Ireland’s tallest free-standing natural tower. The summit itself, at 611 m (2,005 ft), is a broad, boggy plateau; all the drama is around its edges.
Tievebaun (Irish: Taobh Bán, usually translated as ‘grassy slope’, though you’ll also see ‘white side’) straddles the border of County Leitrim and County Sligo. It’s the third-highest summit in the Dartry Mountains and the highest independent peak in Leitrim, with a prominence of 106 m. Odd quirk: it isn’t quite the county’s high point – that goes to the southeast shoulder of neighbouring Truskmore, which crosses the boundary at 631 m. Classified as both an Arderin and a Vandeleur-Lynam, Tievebaun sees a fraction of the traffic that Benbulbin does a few kilometres west, and that’s most of its appeal.
The route
Route guides usually put the standard circuit at around 18 km with roughly 680 m of ascent, and it’s a full day on the hill – reckon on the guts of seven hours. This is graded hard and needs confident navigation. The usual start is the first car park on the north shore of Glencar Lough, just inside the Leitrim boundary (grid reference 757 436).
From there a steep forest track climbs onto the southern edge of the Dartry Plateau. Past a stile the surface turns to bog track along cut-away peatland before opening onto high moorland. Head northeast and the limestone cliffs above the Glenade Valley come into view; a low stone wall marks the county boundary and gives you a line to follow north toward the cairns. Near the top the wall becomes a fence, and the final pull is short but steep.
If the full loop is more than you want, Tievebaun can also be taken as part of the Truskmore ridge, with free car parks at the Gleniff Horseshoe trailhead and near Glencar Lake. There’s also a single-car parking spot on the western side at grid reference G747 490, reached from the north with room to pull in on the left.
Eagle’s Rock and the views
Eagle’s Rock is the one to make for: a pale, arrow-shaped tower that points steadily uphill and stands clear of the darker moor. On the northern side, The Hag’s Leap is a rugged pinnacle that gives photographers a foreground. The summit is marked by twin cairns on the Leitrim side and a single cairn at the 611 m spot height.
On a clear day you can see south across the Sligo coast, west to Benbulbin’s flat table, and out to the cliffs of Slieve League across Donegal Bay. Below sits the glacial trench of Glenade, which has its own stories: Diarmaid and Gráinne’s cave and the remains of old barytes mines are down in the valley, and a fine full-court tomb – one of the best in Ireland – stands in the foothills near Mullaghmore.
Getting there and safety
- Access and parking: Reach the start via the N16 Sligo–Manorhamilton road; after 7 km turn off for Glencar Lake and follow the signed lane another 4.5 km to the north-shore car park. Parking is free but tight – only a handful of cars fit. There’s no charge for the mountain itself.
- Navigation: Carry Ordnance Survey Discovery sheet 16. Summit coordinates are 54.396817 N, -8.357749 W. Mist rolls in fast over the plateau and hides the boundary wall, so a map and compass (and the skill to use them) aren’t optional.
- Underfoot: The moor holds bog holes and the odd sinkhole. Stick to the line of the wall and don’t cut corners; the final scramble to the cairn is steep enough to catch out anyone not used to rough ground.
- Weather and light: Pack waterproofs, warm layers and proper boots whatever the forecast. Early and late light rakes across the limestone and is when Eagle’s Rock and the pinnacles look their best.
Nearby
Glencar Waterfall is a few minutes away and carries an information panel with W. B. Yeats’s The Stolen Child, a poem that names this very glen.
The Truskmore ridge gives a different angle on the plateau, and the Glenade Valley below Benbulbin is close by if you want to stretch the day. Time your descent for mid-afternoon: the forest track stays muddy long after rain, and the N16 is a busy road to be walking out onto in fading light.