Three Rock Mountain
Encyclopedia
Three Rock Mountain is a mountain in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown is a county in Ireland. It is one of three smaller counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. Located to the south-east of Dublin city, its county seat is the town of Dún Laoghaire. It is one of the four constituent parts of the Dublin Region...

 County in 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,...

. It is 444 metres (1,456.7 ft) high and forms part of the group of hills in the Dublin Mountains which comprises Two Rock
Two Rock
Two Rock is a mountain in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Ireland. It is high and is the 382nd highest mountain in Ireland. It is the highest point of the group of hills in the Dublin Mountains which comprises Two Rock, Three Rock, Kilmashogue and Tibradden Mountains. The mountain takes its name from the...

, Three Rock, Kilmashogue
Kilmashogue
Kilmashogue is a mountain in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County in Ireland. It is high and forms part of the group of hills in the Dublin Mountains which comprises Two Rock, Three Rock, Kilmashogue and Tibradden Mountains. The forest plantation on its northern slope, which is composed mainly of Sitka...

 and Tibradden
Tibradden Mountain
Tibradden Mountain is a mountain in County Dublin in Ireland. Other names for the mountain include "Garrycastle" and "Kilmainham Begg" . It is high and is the 561st highest mountain in Ireland...

 Mountains. The mountain takes its name from the three groups of 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...

 rocks at the summit. It was once believed that these features were man-made: for instance, the antiquarian
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...

 Gabriel Beranger wrote of them in 1780, “I take them to be altars upon which sacrifices were offered […] the regularity which is observed in piling them convinces me they are the work of man, as they could not grow in that position”. In fact, the three outcrops are tors: natural geological features produced by the gradual process of weathering
Weathering
Weathering is the breaking down of rocks, soils and minerals as well as artificial materials through contact with the Earth's atmosphere, biota and waters...

. Today, the summit is dominated by the many radio masts and towers
Radio masts and towers
Radio masts and towers are, typically, tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. They are among the tallest man-made structures...

 that use the site to broadcast their signals across the Dublin area below. The forestry plantations on the slopes consist mainly of Sitka spruce
Sitka Spruce
Picea sitchensis, the Sitka Spruce, is a large coniferous evergreen tree growing to 50–70 m tall, exceptionally to 95 m tall, and with a trunk diameter of up to 5 m, exceptionally to 6–7 m diameter...

, Japanese larch
Japanese Larch
Japanese Larch is a species of larch native to Japan, in the mountains of Chūbu and Kantō regions in central Honshū....

, Scots pine
Scots Pine
Pinus sylvestris, commonly known as the Scots Pine, is a species of pine native to Europe and Asia, ranging from Scotland, Ireland and Portugal in the west, east to eastern Siberia, south to the Caucasus Mountains, and as far north as well inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia...

, Monterey pine
Monterey Pine
The Monterey Pine, Pinus radiata, family Pinaceae, also known as the Insignis Pine or Radiata Pine is a species of pine native to the Central Coast of California....

 and lodgepole pine
Lodgepole Pine
Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...

.

Access and recreation

The views from the summit are extensive and have attracted visitors for many years. The writer Weston St. John Joyce described the vista thus: “The view from this commanding height, 1,479 feet over sea-level, extends over a vast tract of mountain, sea, and plain, comprising, to the north, the blue waters of Dublin Bay
Dublin Bay
Dublin Bay is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea on the east coast of Ireland. The bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north-south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth Head in the north to Dalkey Point in the south...

, with Clontarf
Clontarf
Clontarf may refer to:Placenames:*Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland*Clontarf, New South Wales, Australia*Clontarf, Queensland, Australia*Clontarf, Minnesota, United StatesOther:*Battle of Clontarf, 1014...

 and Howth
Howth
Howth is an area in Fingal County near Dublin city in Ireland. Originally just a small fishing village, Howth with its surrounding rural district is now a busy suburb of Dublin, with a mix of dense residential development and wild hillside, all on the peninsula of Howth Head. The only...

, the Naul
Naul, Dublin
Naul , is a village in the administrative area of Fingal, County Dublin, Ireland. The name also encompasses the townlands which surround the village: southward as far as Hollywood Rath, and northward to the River Delvin beside the village, which marks the boundary between County Dublin and County...

 or Man-of-War hills, and the Mourne Mountains; eastward, Kingstown
Dún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire or Dún Laoire , sometimes anglicised as "Dunleary" , is a suburban seaside town in County Dublin, Ireland, about twelve kilometres south of Dublin city centre. It is the county town of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County and a major port of entry from Great Britain...

, Dalkey
Dalkey
Dalkey is suburb of Dublin and seaside resort in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became an important port during the Middle Ages. According to John Clyn, it was one of the ports through which the plague entered Ireland in the mid-14th century...

, and Killiney
Killiney
Killiney is a suburb of Dublin in south County Dublin, Ireland. It is within the administrative area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County. The area is by the coast, south of neighbouring Dalkey, and north to Shankill area in the most southern outskirt of Dublin....

, and then in succession the fertile vale of Shanganagh, Carrickgollogan
Carrickgollogan
Carrickgollogan is a hill in Dublin in the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown administrative county in Ireland. It is high and rises above the village of Shankill on the eastern edge of the Dublin Mountains. Its summit is noted for the panoramic views it offers of south Dublin and north Wicklow. The author...

, the Scalp
Barnaslingan
Barnaslingan is a high hill in County Dublin, Ireland. It is most noted for the geological feature known as The Scalp that lies to the west of the summit...

, Bray Head
Bray Head
Bray Head is a hill and headland located in northern County Wicklow, Ireland, between the towns of Bray and Greystones. It forms part of the Wicklow Mountains and is a popular spot with hillwalkers. At the top of the head is a concrete cross which was placed there in 1950 during the holy year...

, the Sugar Loaves
Great Sugar Loaf
Often simply known as the Sugar Loaf , this mountain is located in the east of County Wicklow, in Ireland, south of Bray and to the north of the Glen of the Downs Nature Reserve...

, and the slopes of Prince William's Seat. In clear weather Holyhead
Holyhead
Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....

 and the Welsh mountains may frequently be discerned, Snowdon
Snowdon
Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales, at an altitude of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside Scotland. It is located in Snowdonia National Park in Gwynedd, and has been described as "probably the busiest mountain in Britain"...

 and the Llanberis Pass
Llanberis Pass
The Llanberis Pass in Snowdonia carries the main road from the SE to Llanberis, over Pen-y-Pass, between the mountain ranges of the Glyderau and the Snowdon massif. At the bottom of the pass is the small village of Nant Peris, clustered round the ancient church of Saint Peris...

 being usually the most conspicuous, but occasionally the elongated outline of Cader Idris may be observed some distance to the right”. By way of contrast, Gabriel Beranger said of Three Rock, “The extensive summit of this mountain, the parched ground and its solitude, make it the most awful spot I had ever seen”.

Access to the mountain is possible via the Coillte-owned forest recreation areas of Ticknock and Kilmashogue. The route via Kilmashogue follows the Wicklow Way
Wicklow Way
The Wicklow Way is a long-distance trail that crosses the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland. It runs from Marlay Park in the southern suburbs of Dublin through County Wicklow and ends in the village of Clonegal in County Carlow. It is designated as a National Waymarked Trail by the Irish Sports...

 hiking trail for part of the way. Three Rock is also traversed by the Dublin Mountains Way
Dublin Mountains Way
The Dublin Mountains Way is a waymarked long-distance trail in the Dublin Mountains, County Dublin, Ireland. The route is approximately long and runs from Shankill in the East to Tallaght in the West...

 hiking trail that runs between Shankill
Shankill, Dublin
Shankill is a suburb in the South-East of Dublin located in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County, Ireland. It has a population of 13,242 .-History:-Name:...

 and Tallaght
Tallaght
Tallaght is the largest town, and county town, of South Dublin County, Ireland. The village area, dating from at least the 17th century, held one of the earliest settlements known in the southern part of the island, and one of medieval Ireland's more important monastic centres.Up to the 1960s...

.

Several local sports clubs take their name from the mountain such as the Three Rock Orienteering Club has mapped the area and run orienteering
Orienteering
Orienteering is a family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain, and normally moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they...

 competitions there since 1981 as well as Three Rock Rovers Hockey Club
Three Rock Rovers Hockey Club
Three Rock Rovers Hockey Club is a field hockey club based in Grange Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin. They are affiliated to the Leinster Branch of the Irish Hockey Association. The club currently fields six men's teams and five women's teams in the Leinster Hockey leagues...

(field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

) and Three Rock Rovers association football club.

History

On the top of central tor at the summit are four bowl-shaped depressions: these are bullaun
Bullaun
A bullaun is the term used for the depression in a stone which is often water filled. Natural rounded boulders or pebbles may sit in the bullaun...

s which were used in early Christian times for grinding. At one time, to the east of central tor was the remains of an abandoned public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

.

Close to the summit is the ruins of an old army shooting range
Shooting range
A shooting range or firing range is a specialized facility designed for firearms practice. Each facility is typically overseen by one or more supervisory personnel, called variously a range master or "RSO – Range Safety Officer" in the United States or a range conducting officer or "RCO" in the UK...

 which closed in the 1970s. The targets were raised and lowered by 12 men using levers in a concrete dugout. A red flag was raised along the forest road to alert visitors that firing exercises were in progress.

The remains of several hill fort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...

s, ring forts and other enclosure
Enclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...

s are to be found on the slopes of the mountain though they have largely disappeared under the forestry plantations.

During the nineteenth century, much of the lower slopes of Three Rock were covered with small quarries, especially around the village of Barnacullia, which supplied paving stones for Dublin Corporation
Dublin Corporation
Dublin Corporation , known by generations of Dubliners simply as The Corpo, is the former name given to the city government and its administrative organisation in Dublin between 1661 and 1 January 2002...

 for many years. Close to Barnacullia was a cottage that was occupied for many years by the Countess Markievicz up until the 1916 Easter Rising
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...

. The children of James Connolly
James Connolly
James Connolly was an Irish republican and socialist leader. He was born in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, to Irish immigrant parents and spoke with a Scottish accent throughout his life. He left school for working life at the age of 11, but became one of the leading Marxist theorists of...

 stayed at the cottage during the week of the Rising. During the Irish War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...

 (1919–21) the 6th Battalion of the Dublin Brigade established a camp at Barnacullia.

Further down the slopes, near the Ticknock Road, is a holy well
Holy well
A holy well, or sacred spring, is a small body of water emerging from underground and revered either in a Pagan or Christian context, often both. Holy wells were frequently pagan sacred sites that later became Christianized. The term 'holy well' is commonly employed to refer to any water source of...

, known as Grumley's Well, reputed to cure eye ailments.

Communications masts

The Irish broadcaster RTÉ
RTÉ Network Limited
RTÉ Transmission Network Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Raidió Teilifís Éireann which runs Ireland's principal terrestrial television and radio broadcast signal transmission networks. They operate 10 main sites, and over 100 smaller relays and transposers, which carry either television,...

 operates a large transmitter close to its peak at 450 metres above ordnance datum
Ordnance Datum
In the British Isles, an Ordnance Datum or OD is a vertical datum used by an ordnance survey as the basis for deriving altitudes on maps. A spot height may be expressed as AOD for "above ordnance datum". Usually mean sea level is used for the datum...

. The 300 ft (90 m) mast carries analogue UHF television to Dublin city and county, as well as FM and DAB radio. Other masts carry the majority of Dublin's local radio stations and some of the bigger pirate stations.

Transmissions began from Three Rock in June 1978, with RTÉ 1 and RTÉ 2 transmitting on UHF. Prior to 1978, Dublin had to rely on the Kippure
Kippure
Kippure is a granite mountain that straddles the county boundaries of South Dublin and Wicklow. It is popular for hill walking and outdoor leisure activity owing to its proximity to Dublin city, with its fine views over Dublin Bay towards Howth Head. It has convenient access and easy terrain...

 television transmitter (which did not cover some eastern and southern parts of the city satisfactorily), or on a low power transmitter (now defunct) located at the RTÉ television centre itself in Donnybrook, which served most of the districts not reached by Kippure.

The site is one of two RTÉ Network sites used for testing of new technology, including digital radio and digital television. The Three Rock site has previously carried the test RTÉ DAB Multiplex
RTÉ DAB Multiplex
Digital Audio Broadcasting in Ireland is the only current form of digital radio transmission in the state. It was launched to the public on 30 November 2006, with trials taking place in 1998, 2001 and 2006...

 and (along with Clermont Carn
Clermont Carn
Clermont Carn, variously spelt as "Clermont Cairn", "Clairmont Carn/Cairn" or other variations is a 510m high peak in the Cooley Mountains in County Louth which is also home to a main RTÉ Network Limited transmission site.-Transmitter:...

) is currently carrying the tests for Digital terrestrial television in Ireland.

Analogue television

Frequency UHF kW Service
535.25 MHz 29 25 RTÉ One
RTÉ One
RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...

567.25 MHz 33 25 RTÉ Two
RTÉ Two
RTÉ Two is a free-to-air general entertainment channel operated by Irish state broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. RTÉ Two is available throughout the island of Ireland through digital terrestrial service Saorview, VHF and UHF bands, and is also available via satellite to Irish subscribers of...

583.25 MHz 35 25 TV3
TV3 Ireland
TV3 is a free-to-air commercial television network in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 20 September 1998 it was Ireland's first commercial broadcaster. The channel is owned by TV3 Group a subsidiary of Doughty Hanson & Co.-The TV3 Group:...

743.25 MHz 55 25 TG4
TG4
TG4 is a public service broadcaster for Irish language speakers. The channel has been on-air since 31 October 1996 in the Republic of Ireland and since April 2005 in Northern Ireland....


Digital television

Frequency UHF kW Operator
735.25 MHz 54 N/A Saorview
Saorview
Saorview is the national free-to-air digital terrestrial television service in Republic of Ireland.The service began operation on 29 October 2010 on a trial basis with full launch on 26 May 2011. By legislation it was required to be available to approximately 90% of the population by end of...

 (Mux 1)

Analogue radio

Frequency kW Service
88.5 MHz 12.5 RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1 is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926...

90.7 MHz 12.5 RTÉ 2fm
RTÉ 2fm
RTÉ 2fm, or 2FM as it is more commonly referred to, is Raidió Teilifís Éireann's second national radio station. It broadcasts popular music programming aimed at a young Irish audience.- History :...

92.9 MHz 12.5 RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta
RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta
RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta , abbreviated RnaG, is the Irish-language radio service of the public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. The station is available on FM in Ireland and via satellite and on the Internet.- History :...

94.9 MHz 1.5 4fm
4fm
Classic Hits 4FM is an independent multi-region radio station broadcasting to Dublin and commuter belt, the cities and counties of Cork, Limerick, Galway and County Clare. Reception is also possible in parts of several other neighbouring counties...

96.7 MHz 5 RTÉ lyric fm
RTÉ lyric fm
RTÉ lyric fm is an Irish classical music radio station, owned by the public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. The station, which is based in Limerick, was launched in 1999 and is available on FM in Ireland, on satellite, on Sky Digital in Ireland and United Kingdom and via the...

98.1 MHz 5 Dublin's 98
Dublin's 98
98FM is an independent local radio station in Dublin, Ireland, operated by Radio Two Thousand Limited, a subsidiary of Denis O'Brien's Communicorp Limited, under a sound broadcasting contract from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. The station broadcasts on the 98.1 MHz FM frequency...

100.3 MHz 12.5 Nova 100
101.8 MHz 0.5 Today FM
Today FM
Radio Ireland Ltd, trading as 100-102 Today FM is an Irish commercial FM radio station which is available nationally. The station, which commenced broadcasting on Saint Patrick's Day in 1997, can be received nationally and carries a mix of music and talk...

102.2 MHz 2 Q102
103.2 MHz 1 Dublin City FM
Dublin City FM
103.2 Dublin City FM is an Independent Local Radio station in Dublin, Ireland, operated by Dublin Public Service Radio Association Ltd, under a sound broadcasting contract from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. The station broadcasts on the 103.2 MHz FM frequency...

103.8 MHz 5 Spin 1038
Spin 1038
Spin 1038 is an Independent Local Radio station in Dublin, Ireland. It is owned by Denis O'Brien's Communicorp group and broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. Despite their name, they do not broadcast on the medium wave band , but on 103.8 FM...

104.4 MHz 5 FM104
FM104
FM104 is an Independent Local Radio station broadcast across Dublin, Ireland, on the frequency 104.4 MHz. It is operated by Capital Radio Productions Limited , and is a subsidiary of UTV Radio. The station broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland...

105.2 MHz 2 Phantom 105.2
Phantom FM
Phantom 105.2 is a Dublin based radio station, founded in 1996 as a pirate radio station. Phantom broadcasts under a contract awarded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland ....

106.0 MHz 10 Newstalk
106.4 MHz 0.5 Raidió Na Life
Raidió Na Life
Raidió na Life 106.4FM is an Irish-language radio station founded in 1993 and broadcasting to the Greater Dublin area, Ireland. In addition to being transmitted on FM, the station's output is available worldwide via the internet at .- History :...

106.8 MHz 0.5 Country Mix

Digital radio

Frequency Block kW Operator
227.360 MHz 12C 20 DAB Ireland Mux 1

Images

External links

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