The Bones

For the Maren Morris song, see The Bones (song). For other uses, see Bones (disambiguation).

The Bones (Irish: Na Cnámha),^[2] at 957 metres (3,140 ft) high, is the seventh-highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin list, or the eighth-highest according to the Vandeleur-Lynam list. It is part of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks in County Kerry, and is a small sharp peak on the dramatic Beenkeragh Ridge, and is sometimes mistaken with The Bone, the north-east spur of Maolán Buí, which descends into the Hag's Glen.

The Bones
Na Cnámha
The Bones (centre, in green) on the Beenkeragh Ridge; Carrauntoohil is back left. The large scree slope into the lake is Brother O'Shea's Gully.
Highest point
Elevation	957 m (3,140 ft)[1]
Prominence	37 m (121 ft)[1]
Listing	Furth, Hewitt, Arderin, Simm, Vandeleur-Lynam
Coordinates	52°00′06″N 9°44′50″W
Geography
The Bones Ireland
Location	County Kerry, Republic of Ireland
Parent range	MacGillycuddy's Reeks
OSI/OSNI grid	V800846
Topo map	OSI Discovery 78
Geology
Mountain type	Purple sandstone & siltstone Bedrock

Geography

Climber on the Beenkeragh Ridge approaching The Bones, with Caher Ridge in the entire background

The Bones is the highest point on a narrow rocky arête called the Beenkeragh Ridge, situated between Carrauntoohil 1,038 metres (3,406 ft) (Ireland's highest peak), and Beenkeragh 1,008 metres (3,307 ft) (Ireland's second-highest peak), in the MacGillycuddy's Reeks range in County Kerry. The Beenkeragh Ridge is considered as "intimidating hill-walking conditions", along with the nearby The Big Gun ridge, and is often climbed as part of the Coomloughra Horseshoe.^[3]

The Bones is often confused with The Bone, the north-west spur of the nearby Maolan Bui 973 metres (3,192 ft),^[4] MountainViews Online Database reported that to avoid confusion in rescue situations, the Kerry Mountain Rescue ("KMR"), and the Ordnance Survey Ireland ("OSI") advocated for the official name of The Bones to become Na Cnámha on OSI maps.^[5]

Beenkeragh (l), The Bones (m), and Carrauntoohil (r) from Caher

The Bones is the 321st-highest mountain peak in Britain and Ireland on the Simm classification.^[6] The Bones is regarded by the Scottish Mountaineering Club ("SMC") as one of 34 Furths, which is a mountain above 3,000 ft (914 m) in elevation, and meets the other SMC criteria for a Munro (e.g. "sufficient separation"), but which is outside of (or furth) Scotland;^[7] which is why The Bones is sometimes referred to as one of the 13 Irish Munros. The Bones' prominence qualifies it to meet the Arderin classification, and the British Isles Simm and Hewitt classifications.^[6] The Bones is not in the MountainViews Online Database, 100 Highest Irish Mountains, as the prominence threshold is over 100 m (328 ft).

See also

• Lists of mountains in Ireland
• List of mountains of the British Isles by height
• List of Furth mountains in the British Isles

References

1. The Bones at mountainviews.ie. Accessed on 3 Feb 2013.
2. Tempan, Paul (February 2012). "Irish Hill and Mountain Names" (PDF). MountainViews.ie.
3. "THE COOMLOUGHRA HORSESHOE: THE BEENKERAGH RIDGE AND THE BONES PEAK". Aidan McGlynn. 15 December 2016. The next stage would be to cross the notorious Beenkeragh Ridge, which spans the gap between Ireland's second highest peak – Beenkeragh, and its highest – Carrauntoohil. On the way, mid-ridge, is another high summit, The Bones Peak.
4. O'Dwyer, John (6 June 2015). "Walks: The Big Gun is a blast on the Reeks Ridge, Co Kerry". Irish Times. An expansive crest now leads about 500m to the undistinguished mountaintop of Maolán Buí, and the beginning of your descent. A broad ridge, known locally as the Bone, now declines steeply if uneventfully right to reach the shoreline of Lough Callee.
5. Stewart, Simon (2018). "The Bones". MountainViews Online Database. A rocky arete between Carrauntoohil and Beenkeeragh. Previously Carrauntoohil Tooth in MV and then The Bones. Changed to have main name Na Cnámha in consultation with Kerry Mountain Rescue (Gerry Christie) and OSi to avoid confusion with The Bone a spur NE of Cnoc na Toinne Na Cnámha is the 8th highest place in Ireland.
6. Cocker, Chris; Jackson, Graham (2018). "The Database of British and Irish Hills". Database of British and Irish Hills.
7. Mountains – Key Facts. The Munros, Corbetts, Grahams, Donalds & Furths at www.smc.org.uk. Accessed on 5 Feb 2013.

External links

• MountainViews: The Irish Mountain Website
• MountainViews: Irish Online Mountain Database
• The Database of British and Irish Hills , the largest database of British Isles mountains ("DoBIH")
• Hill Bagging UK & Ireland, the searchable interface for the DoBIH
• Ordnance Survey Ireland ("OSI") Online Map Viewer
• Logainm: Placenames Database of Ireland