Mourne Mountains, a great description. As promised, here is that description of the Mournes, if you can forgive the initial spelling mistake.

Mourn Mountains

The Mountains of Mourne are hands-down the most spectacular mountains in Ireland. The mountain range is located in Northern Ireland in County Down, specifically in South Down. The best way to reach the Mourne Mountains is to head down to the seaside resort of Newcastle. This exquisitely-located, bustling little town serves as a great home base for mountain expeditions. The Mournes are the most frequently visited and hiked mountains in Ireland.

The land on the south side of the mountains is known as the Kingdom of Mourne. Due to its isolated location, the kingdom developed a distinct culture and society. The region’s main industries were farming, fishing, and granite. The Mournes are some of the best granite mountains in Ireland, and granite quarries were a huge part of the Kingdom of Mourne economy. Mourne granite can be found throughout Ireland and England, including Belfast, Liverpool, London, and Manchester.

The rugged, granite peaks of the Mourne Mountains add a majestic element to the surrounding golden beaches, deep forests, and emerald fields. The beauty of the mountains was immortalized in one of WIlilam Percy French’s songs. French, an Irish songwriter, wrote the song with a chorus of “Where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.” The Mourne Mountains of Ireland have actually been internationally recognized as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The mountains boast better hiking, rock-climbing, and walking than found at any of the other Northern Ireland Mountains. Some well-known mountains include Slieve Donard, Slieve Lamagan, and Slieve Muck. Slieve is from the Irish word ‘sliabh,’ meaning mountain. Besides visits to these majestic Ireland mountains, tourists can trek up to the Mourne Wall, a man-made, dry-stone wall built between 1904 and 1922. The reason for its construction was to provide work during a period of high unemployment. The wall is 2 m high, a meter thick, and over 35 km long, and it lies across the summits of 15 of the surrounding peaks.

In the center of the Mourne Mountains of Ireland, weary travelers can rest at the stunning Silent Valley Reservoir. Formed by the damming of the Kilkeel River so as to provide Belfast with water, the Reservoir has scenic walks, a pleasant coffee shop, and a shuttle bus service that can take people up the valley to the Crom Dam.

During at trip to this region, visitors can also enjoy cycling, golf, horseback riding, fishing, and helicopter rides. Several parks and natural attractions are located near the Mountains of Mourne. The Castlewellan Forest Park is a good choice for beginning hikers and campers, with gentle walks, brilliant castles, and excellent trout fishing in its shimmering lake. Equestrians, both beginners and experienced riders, can arrange for beach and forest horseback trips at the Mount Pleasant Horse Trekking Centre.

In Newcastle and the Mourne Mountains, there are a number of accommodations available. New Youth Hostel is centrally situated, and the Beach House is a delightful Victorian Bed and Breakfast just opposite the beach. Several other B&Bs and hotels are located in the center and outskirts of Newcastle. Camping is always popular, especially in summer months. The Tollymore Forest Park, with tent and caravan sites, is located about 3 km northwest of Newcastle.

The Mourne Mountains of Ireland offer a breathtakingly beautiful combination of sand, surf, meadow, and mountain. The Mournes are the most famous of the Ireland Mountains and visitors can hike, climb, golf, fish, horseback ride, and simply soak in the superb natural views of these jagged peaks rising high above shimmering seas and fields.

How others see us.

I have a facility on my computer called Google Alerts which lets me know during the period of a week if the term Mourne Mountains is used on the Web, either on a new website, a blog or an online article say from a newspaper. Anyone can use this facility via Google for any interest they may have, eg 'Line dancing', 'Origami', ' Neil Diamond' ,' Formula One racing', 'Humane Slaughter', or London Transport; now one of the previous is actually another of of my alerts, I will let you ponder on which.

Well the content below is a description of Northern Ireland from a website that is trying to sell 'Vacations' Worldwide, I don't know where it is based but I think it has used a generic description of Northern Ireland written in their own language and then used an online translation facility to translate it back into English. This has led to the word Metropolis being used instead of City when referring to Belfast and the Giants Causeway being described as the Good Causeway. It makes for a fun read but the essential message is still there.

"One or more of the four countries of the United Kingdom is Northern Ireland. This 14,000-square-mile area has a temperate oceanic climate. English Irish and its official languages, although their dialect of English has been influenced by the Scottish.

Northern Ireland has a great scenic mountains and one of the most famous may be the Mourne Mountains. This has been the inspiration of the famous author CS Lewis in his novel Children The Chronicles of Narnia. Numerous activities can be as the famous Mourne Mountain conducted a walk, hiking, fishing, horseback riding and more.

The water resources and networks are also a paradise in Northern Ireland. Several rivers and do Lough (lake) are as Bush River and Lough Neagh scattered throughout the country, where you can travel especially cruising, fishing or take it by foot or bike.

be far more than 40,000 of polygonal columns of basalt layers, which are guided by a volcanic eruption happen to the interest of tourists visit the good Causeway. The mean Percentage of the coastal road offers a breathtaking perfect hexagonal layers. This led to the Causeway declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The capital Metropolis, Belfast, can be the household with the famous ship Titanic. Located in the center of the city, the Cathedral Quarter in the center of attention of culture, architecture and Cooking was. Belfast is also the world-class interactive Science Discovery Centre, the W5, in addition to the ancient yet vibrant and colorful St. George's Market. The Metropolis is also home to a large number of gourmet restaurants, chic bars and shopping centers.

The Walled City of Derry, the only surviving in Ireland, is a of the largest walled cities of Europe. The landmark building, popular walls and panoramic views Foyle charm lots of visitors. The targeted visitors for free and relaxing trails and roads from the Foyle Valley, it produces an award-winning bike path.

Where do you want to travel in the world? For an idea of where to go on your next vacation, visit famouswonders.com. While you are on the site, also take a look at things to do in Ireland."

Coincidentally on Google Alerts, two weeks ago, I came across a description of the Mourne Mountains on another world wide Vacation site and it is one of the best I have ever seen, I hardly recognised the place and I live here. I will post this on a second blog; the only down side is that the have titled the article 'MOURN Mountains'