Mountains and the Irish - a forgotten Heritage

Background: There are no very big mountains on the island of Ireland. The highest Irish mountain, Carrauntoohill (Corrán Tuathail) is a little higher than 1,000m. There is no summit that cannot be reached by walking, yet there are many regions that are enjoyed by hillwalkers, hikers and climbers. Although the altitude of such regions is hardly more than Spain's Meseta, due to the combination of altitude and latitude such terrain is agriculturally unproductive , being used mainly as rough grazing for sheep. Many people enjoy mountain activities such as hiking and climbing in Ireland and over the centuries many people have travelled from Ireland to perform feats of mountaineering in the Greater Ranges of the world.