Table Mountain (Wicklow)

This article is about Table Mountain in County Wicklow, Ireland. For other uses, see Table Mountain (disambiguation).

Table Mountain is a 702-metre (2,303 ft) peak in the southern section of the Wicklow Mountains range in Ireland. With a prominence of only 16 metres (52 ft), it is only listed in a few of the recognised categories of mountains in Ireland; it is the 110th–highest peak on the Vandeleur-Lynam Irish scale.^[2][3] Table Mountain is at the apex of a horseshoe-shaped "boggy" massif with its larger neighbours, Camenabologue 758 metres (2,487 ft) and Conavalla 734 metres (2,408 ft) that sit at the head of the Glenmalure valley; all three peaks lie close to the "central spine" of the range as it runs from Kippure in the north, to Lugnaquillia in the south.^[3][4] There is no recorded Irish language name for Table Mountain, and it has no connection with Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa.^[5]

Table Mountain
Flat summit of Table Mountain
Highest point
Elevation	702 m (2,303 ft)[1]
Prominence	16 m (52 ft)[1]
Listing	Arderin Beg, Vandeleur-Lynam
Coordinates	53.01716°N 6.481634°W / 53.01716; -6.481634
Geography
Table Mountain Location in Ireland
Location	County Wicklow, Ireland
Parent range	Wicklow Mountains
OSI/OSNI grid	T019972[1]
Topo map	OSi Discovery 56
Geology
Mountain type	Granite with microcline phenocrysts[1]

Plane crash

On the afternoon of 7 March 1957, between 12:30 and 12:45pm, a Percival Provost training plane crashed into the slopes of Table Mountain in thick fog resulting in the death of its pilot, an Irish Air Corps lieutenant.^[6] The pilot was 21-year-old Patrick L. O'Connor, of Clooneyquin, Castlerea, County Roscommon.^[6] The plane had left Baldonnel Aerodrome, Dublin at 11:15am that morning for an intended training flight over the counties of Offaly and Wicklow, but was believed to have lost contact with the control tower shortly after departure.^[6] The explosion was heard by forestry workers on nearby Conavalla Mountain who rushed to assist and were able to raise the alarm.^[6] Parts of the aircraft, which were scattered over an area of 80 yards, still remained on the slopes of the mountain as of 2010.^[7]

Bibliography

• Fairbairn, Helen (2014). Dublin & Wicklow: A Walking Guide. Collins Press. ISBN 978-1848892019.
• MountainViews Online Database (Simon Stewart) (2013). A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins. Collins Books. ISBN 978-1-84889-164-7.
• Dillion, Paddy (1993). The Mountains of Ireland: A Guide to Walking the Summits. Cicerone. ISBN 978-1852841102.

See also

• Wicklow Way
• Wicklow Mountains
• Lists of mountains in Ireland
• List of mountains of the British Isles by height
• List of Hewitt mountains in England, Wales and Ireland