The Bones

The Bones, at 957 m 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.

Geography


The Bones is the highest point on a narrow rocky arête called the Beenkeragh Ridge, situated between Carrauntoohil 1038 m (Ireland's highest peak), and Beenkeragh 1008 m (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.

The Bones is often confused with The Bone, the north-west spur of the nearby Maolan Bui 973 m, 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.



The Bones is the 321st-highest mountain peak in Britain and Ireland on the Simm classification. The Bones is regarded by the Scottish Mountaineering Club ("SMC") as one of 34 Furths, which is a mountain above 3000 ft in elevation, and meets the other SMC criteria for a Munro (e.g. "sufficient separation"), but which is outside of (or furth) Scotland; 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. The Bones is not in the MountainViews Online Database, 100 Highest Irish Mountains, as the prominence threshold is over 100 m.