Slieve Binnian is the most massive of all of the mountains of Mourne and it’s high, tor-capped summit dominates the countryside (known as the Kingdom of Mourne) isolated between the mountain and the sea. The historical boundaries of the kingdom extend from the tiny St Patrick’s stream south of Newcastle to the Cassy Water east of Rostrevor and inland to the mountain tops. There is a tradition that the region was ruled in Celtic times by a cow-herd king, Boirche, from a stronghold on Slieve Binnian. This walk travels the length of Binnian’s summit ridge and provides views across the peaks around the mountain’s circumference. Along the way are visible remains from a bygone stone industry. Local granite was quarried and exported on such a scale that it is said to have ‘paved Lancashire’ and was also used as monumental stone to ‘mark the resting place of many a man who never looked on Mourne’.
Information on Northern Irelands Finest Mountains