| Slieve Donard | |
|---|---|
| Sliabh Dónairt | |
 Slieve Donard and Newcastle | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 850 m (2,790 ft)[1][2] |
| Prominence | 822 m (2,697 ft)[1] |
| Listing | County High Point (Down),[3] P600, Marilyn, Hewitt, Arderin, Simm, Vandeleur-Lynam |
| Coordinates | 54°10′49″N 5°55′15″W / 54.180238°N 5.920898°W |
| Naming | |
| English translation | Dónairt's mountain |
| Language of name | Irish |
| Geography | |
  Location of Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland  Slieve Donard (County Down)  Slieve Donard (island of Ireland)  Slieve Donard (the United Kingdom) | |
| Location | County Down, Northern Ireland |
| Parent range | Mournes |
| OSI/OSNI grid | J357276 |
| Topo map | OSNI Discoverer 29 |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Granite granophyre Bedrock |
Slieve Donard (/ˌsliːv ˈdɒnərd/ SLEEV DON-ərd; from Irish Sliabh Dónairt, meaning 'Dónairt's mountain')[4] is the highest mountain in Northern Ireland, the highest in Ulster and the seventh-highest in Ireland,[1][5] with a height of 850 metres (2,790 ft).[1][2][6] The highest of the Mourne Mountains,[7] it is near the town of Newcastle on the eastern coast of County Down, overlooking the Irish Sea. It is also the highest mountain in the northern half of Ireland.[8]
The Mourne Wall – built in the early 20th century – runs up the western and southern slopes of the mountain, joining a small stone tower at the summit. Also on the summit are the remains of two ancient burial cairns, one of which is the remains of the highest known passage tomb in Ireland. In Irish mythology the mountain was associated with the mythical figures Boirche and Slángha. It was later associated with, and named after, Saint Donard, who was said to have made the summit his hermitage. Up until the 1830s, people would climb the mountain as part of a yearly pilgrimage, which may have originally been a Lughnasadh (harvest) ritual. Royal Engineers camped on the summit for four months in 1826 as part of the Ordnance Survey's Principal Triangulation. It is located in the southeastern part of Northern Ireland.
- ^ a b c d MountainViews.ie
- ^ a b Ordnance Survey Ireland – Online map viewer
- ^ "Ireland's County High Points". High Point Ireland. 2015.
- ^ Placenames Database of Ireland
- ^ "Ireland's Province High Points". High Point Ireland. 2015.
- ^ Ken Stewart (2004). "Measuring the height of Slieve Donard". 2004 Year Book. Archived from the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2008.
This final calculation gives a measured height for Slieve Donard of 849.14m above MSL Belfast, and is estimated to be correct to better than 5cm.
- ^ "Ireland's Range High Points". High Point Ireland. 2015.
- ^ McSherry, Brendan. "The Geoarchaeology of Ireland's East Border Region - Geology and Borders in War and Peace". International Conference on Landscape Conservation, 2011. p.76