The Ox Mountains are a mountain range in County Sligo on the west coast of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. They are also known as 'St Patrick's Mountain after St. Patrick, as he laboured much on it, raised churches on its slopes, and left his name to some of its wells, as for instance that of Dromard' . The highest peak in the Ox Mountains is Knockalongy

Knockalongy

Knockalongy is a 544 m Marilyn in County Sligo, Republic of Ireland. It is the highest of the Ox Mountains. The nearest village is Skreen....

, which rises to 544m (1,785ft). There is some debate as to the precise meaning of 'gamh'. For example one interpretation of the Irish name translates it into 'mountain of the storms' as the mountains are prone to strong winds from the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

. However, 'gamh' has also been held to refer to a generic animal which, given the possible prevalence of Oxen in the area, eventually came to be identified with a particular kind of animal

The Ox Mountains begin immediately southwest of Ballysadare

Ballysadare

Ballysadare is a village about 7 kilometres from Sligo town Centre. Built on the Ballysadare river, the area experienced rapid growth during the 'Celtic Tiger' boom, with many new housing developments, many of which now lie empty, creating phantom estates. The village was once choked with heavy...

, and run west-southwest for some forty miles to the boundary of County Mayo

County Mayo

County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...

, where they are continued to the southwest by the Slieve Gamph range, which runs first on the boundary of the two counties, and then into Mayo. The Ox Mountains have several summits from 1,200 to 1,800 feet high; and Slieve Gamph attains an elevation of 1,363 feet.

Geology

Gneiss

Gneiss

Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...

, schist

Schist

The schists constitute a group of medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. Quartz often occurs in drawn-out grains to such an extent that a particular form called quartz schist is...

 and granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 form the bedrock of the Ox Mountains. This wild area of uplands is covered largely with blanket bog

Blanket bog

Blanket bog or blanket mire is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses of undulating ground. The blanketing of the ground with a variable depth of peat...

. Some parts are extensively forested, whilst others have numerous outcroppings of rock. To the north and south the land is underlain by limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

s and sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

s of Carboniferous

Carboniferous

The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...

 age, and is generally farmland. Lead and copper mines were formerly worked in the Ox Mountains, but by 1900 the works had been long since discontinued.

Peaks

Hill	Height (m)
Knockalongy Knockalongy Knockalongy is a 544 m Marilyn in County Sligo, Republic of Ireland. It is the highest of the Ox Mountains. The nearest village is Skreen....	544 m
Annatoran	512 m
Cloonacool	440 m
Sruffaungarve Top	400 m
Meenamaddo	330 m
Knocknashee Knocknashee Knocknashee is a 276 m Marilyn in the Ox Mountains, County Sligo, Ireland.- Geology :Knocknashee hill consists of a limestone top with shales underlying the lower slopes. - Archaeology :...	276 m