Mourne Country

An hour from Belfast and two from Dublin, the Mournes are a magnet for locals and day-trippers, who come to climb, walk and cycle, as well as visitors who stay in the picturesque villages and towns that surround these soaring peaks. Author and photographer Gareth McCormack began visiting the Mournes with his college mountaineering club and soon became fascinated with these dramatic and distinctive mountains. In this book, he shares his knowledge and stunning photographs of the High Mournes, including the famous Slieve Donard; he visits Newcastle by the sea, Dundrum, Kilkeel, and the beautiful estates and woodlands of Tollymore, Rostrevor and Castlewellan; and finds monuments documenting millennia of settlement in the area, from pre-historic dolmens to smugglers’ routes, Norman castles to traditional farmers’ walls.