Walking Knocknarea and Queen Maeve's Cairn

Knocknarea is the flat-topped mountain that sits directly behind Strandhill, and it's visible from almost everywhere in the village, which is part of why the walk to its summit is the single most-recommended thing to do here after a day at the beach. The mountain rises 327 metres, and its summit carries Miosgan Meadhbha, Queen Maeve's Cairn, an enormous, unexcavated Neolithic passage tomb roughly fifty-five metres wide and ten metres high. It's the largest cairn in Ireland outside Brú na Bóinne in County Meath, and it has never been opened, so what's actually inside is unconfirmed. Local tradition holds it as the burial place of Meadhbh, the legendary queen of Connacht in Irish mythology.

The route

The standard loop runs from the Glen Road car park, up through forest track on the lower slopes, then onto steeper, more exposed terrain of loose gravel and heather for the middle section, before reaching the summit plateau and the cairn itself. Most walkers cover somewhere between six and eight kilometres depending on the exact route taken, and the whole thing takes two and a half to three hours at an ordinary pace. There are two other access points, at Rathcarrick and off the Strandhill Road, but Glen Road has the most reliable parking.

This is not a flat coastal ramble. The middle section is a genuine climb, and the ground underfoot is loose and uneven in stretches, so proper walking boots matter more here than on most of Strandhill's other walks. The descent from the summit follows a wooden boardwalk through forest on the northeastern face, which helps on a wet day but doesn't make the walk a stroll.

At the summit

The views make the climb worth it on a clear day: the Ox Mountains, Sligo Bay, Lough Gill, Benbulben to the north, and on the clearest days Croagh Patrick across in County Mayo. The cairn dominates the flat summit, and the accepted etiquette is to walk around it rather than on it. Archaeologists have raised real concern in recent years about hikers climbing the cairn and moving or removing stones, which risks destabilising a monument that has stood, undisturbed inside, for around five thousand years.

Practical notes

Weather changes quickly up here even when it looks settled from the village, so bring a waterproof regardless of the forecast. There's no shelter on the open summit plateau, and the wind picks up noticeably once you're clear of the treeline. If you're doing this as part of a longer day, allow extra time; the Warriors Run, an annual race held every August, uses this exact route as its punishing middle section, and anyone who has done that race will tell you the climb is tougher than the map distance suggests.

Getting there

Glen Road car park is a short drive from Strandhill village, and there is no public transport directly to the trailhead, so a car, bike, or a fairly long walk from the village is the only way in. Combine it with lunch back in Strandhill afterwards; you'll have earned it.