Mount Gabriel

Mount Gabriel
View to a radar dome on the summit
Highest point
Elevation407 m (1,335 ft)
Prominence312
ListingMarilyn
Coordinates51°33.00′N 9°32.19′W / 51.55000°N 9.53650°W / 51.55000; -9.53650
Naming
Native nameCnoc Osta
Geography
Mount Gabriel is located in Ireland
Mount Gabriel
Mount Gabriel
Location within Ireland
LocationCounty Cork, Ireland
OSI/OSNI gridV761497
Official name
Mount Gabriel
The mountainside to the west of the summit
Mount Gabriel as seen from Ballyrisode Beach. Two radar domes visible.

Mount Gabriel (Irish: Cnoc Osta) is a large hill on the Mizen Peninsula, north of the town of Schull in County Cork, Ireland. The name Cnoc Osta means 'hill of the encampment', and was historically anglicized as 'Knock Hast'.

Mount Gabriel is 407 m (1,335 ft) high and is the highest eminence in the coastal zone south and east of Bantry Bay. A roadway serving the radar installations on the summit is open to the public.

From the peak of Mount Gabriel, there are views south over Schull Harbour and Long Island Bay. To the east and southeast, the views take in Roaringwater Bay and its many islands, known as Carbery's Hundred Isles. North and west are the mountains of the Beara Peninsula and south Kerry. Fastnet Rock is approximately 18 km (11 mi) to the south, and is visible in fine weather.

Mining

On the southern and eastern slopes of the mountain there is evidence of Bronze Age mining, principally for copper. Some of the archaeological items found are now in the National Museum in Dublin.

Radar domes

In the late 1970s, as part of the development of Eurocontrol (the European air traffic control system), two radar domes were built on the top of the mountain.

In September 1982 the Irish National Liberation Army, an Irish republican paramilitary group, blew up the radar domes, wrongly claiming that they were being used by NATO in violation of Irish neutrality.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Mizen/Sheeps Head Area – Mount Gabriel". MountainViews.ie. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "National Monuments of County Cork in State Care" (PDF). heritageireland.ie. National Monument Service. p. 5. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Cnoc Osta/Mount Gabriel". Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
  4. ↑ https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1983/0609/Pg011.html#Ar01103:0582BF08C2D611A2AF1472C7 (subscription required)
  5. ↑ MacSweeney, Tom (28 June 1984). "Scanning The Southerly Skies". RTÉ News. Retrieved 25 July 2025.