Slieve Rua
This hill North of Mullach Mor is straddled by many rocky buttresses, the largest buttress (Upper Buttress) is on the South side just below the summit Lower Buttress is 150m further South West. Approach by the red path from Cooloorta trail head, maps for the walking paths and trail head are available to download from the Burren National Park website https://www.burrennationalpark.ie/. Walk along the red path for about 20 minutes following way marks traversing the hillside and gaining height gradually, the path goes through a gate in a stone wall and strikes left or South West for Mullach Mor, leave the path here, walk straight ahead uphill and West for 7 more minutes. Upon reaching the crest of the hill the Lower Buttress should be visible on your right, Upper Buttress is 150m further above and behind. In the picture below the Lower Buttress is the cliff at the bottom of the marked rectangle while the Upper Buttress is in the marked rectangle.
Lower Buttress
Climbs are between 7m and 8m in height.
SELF ISOLATION D
Audrey O'Toole, Barry Watts, Brandon O'Toole, 12th June 2020.
Wide crack on the far left.
SHORT BUT SHARP S
S. Byrne, J. Heaney, 20th June 2021.
Between Self Isolation and Social Distancing climb the obvious corner. Scramble up the clean rib of rock to below the corner. Climb the steep short corner on sharp but good holds. Crux is protected.
SOCIAL DISTANCING VD
Barry Watts, Conor Warner, 21st June 2020.
Crack behind the large thorn tree, there are also good holds and gear placements left and right of this crack.
TIRIG VD
Conor Warner, Barry Watts, 21st June 2020.
Start up COVID CRACK for 3m, step left and climb the wall on good holds.
COVID CRACK VD
Barry Watts, Audrey O'Toole, 12th June 2020.
The next obvious crack 3m right of SOCIAL DISTANCING.
C19-REUNION VD
Conor Warner, Barry Watts, 21st June 2020.
Bridge up the walls of the gully right of COVID CRACK.
WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT HS
Cormac Flynn, 25th May 2023.
This is at the left end of a large clean section of wall. Climb the straight crack in the right facing corner behind some hazel bushes. Good holds above the crack lead to the top.
WINTER LOCKDOWN S
Barry Watts, Audrey O'Toole, 15th April 2021.
Climb the right facing corner with a tricky start.
THE IDES OF MARCH S
Barry Watts, Conor Warner, 21st June 2020.
Take the wall and crack 1m right of a right facing corner.
CANADA CRACK HS
Barry Watts, Audrey O'Toole, 15th April 2021.
Climb the groove right of THE IDES OF MARCH and finish up the right slanting crack.
MASKED UP VS 5a
Barry Watts, Conor Warner, 21st June 2020 (Ground up 1 rest point). Barry Watts, Audrey O'Toole, 6th August 2023 (Free).
4m right of THE IDES OF MARCH a thin crack starts 2m above the ground, climb this, crux in the first 4m.
MANDATORY QUARANTINE VD
Barry Watts, Audrey O'Toole, 15th April 2021.
Climb the chimney right of the thorn tree to a small ledge and continue up the crack above.
LOCKED IN VD
Barry Watts, Brandon O'Toole, Audrey O'Toole, 12th June 2020.
Wide crack 2m to the right of MANDATORY QUARANTINE.
SHOTS FOR ALL VD
Barry Watts, Brandon O'Toole, Audrey O'Toole, 15th April 2021.
Climb the crack 1m right of LOCKED IN to ledge, finish up crack to the left.
HAZEL'S MAZE S
Audrey O'Toole, Barry Watts, Brandon O'Toole, 15th April 2021.
Climb the crack 1m right of SHOTS FOR ALL to a ledge, finish up the chimney above.
LITTLE LEAGUE D
S. Byrne, J. Heaney, 12th June 2024.
Between Hazel's Maze and Ivy League climb the crack up into the corner. Climb the outside edge of the detached block to the ledge at two thirds height and continue straight up the broken crack.
IVY LEAGUE VD
Barry Watts, Audrey O'Toole, Paolo Chavez, Brandon O'Toole, 13th August 2023.
Climb the line left of FACE OFF.
FACE OFF VD
Audrey O'Toole, Brandon O'Toole, Maya Van Rensburg, 23rd April 2021.
Climb the crack left of MAIRE RUA.
MAIRE RUA S
Barry Watts, Brandon O'Toole, Audrey O'Toole, Maya Van Rensburg, 23rd April 2021.
Climb the clean slab left of EVENING LIGHT to a foot ledge, finish leftwards on big holds.
EVENING LIGHT D
Conor Warner, 18th June 2020.
Cracked wall 2m left of THE LOWLANDS.
THE LOWLANDS S
Conor Warner, Barry Watts, 21st June 2020.
Pleasant left facing corner on the far right.
CLIMATIC BREAKDOWN HS
Barry Watts, Audrey O'Toole, 23rd April 2021.
3m right of the THE LOWLANDS there is a boulder leaning against the cliff, climb above the boulder to a ledge with vegetation at head height move diagonally (crux) leftwards to finish.
GRETTA'S STRUGGLE VS 5a
Barry Watts, Audrey O'Toole, David Brosnan, 23rd April 2021.
2m right of CLIMATIC BREAKDOWN there is an overhang 2m above the ground with a vertical crack above. Climb the crack and the face on the left of it to the top.
CLIMATE REVOLUTION HS 4c
Tom Van Rensburg, David Brosnan, 23rd April 2021.
Climb the crack 2m right of GRETTA's STRUGGLE through a steep start.
WHERE IS HE GOING? HS
Cormac Flynn, 17th July 2023.
Follow up rock beneath ivy choked crack (just right of CLIMATE REVOLUTION). Pull through small overhang on positive holds.
GEORGE WAS CURIOUS VD
Cormac Flynn, Ada Flynn, 17th July 2023.
Follow up crack beneath right facing corner. Mantel onto ledge and finish up corner.
THE MAN IN THE YELLOW HAT D
Cormac Flynn, Ada Flynn, 17th July 2023.
Follow up left trending crack to ledge. Finish straight up.
ODE TO MOCKLER D
S. Byrne, J. Heaney, 12th June 2024.
1m right of The Man in the Yellow Hat climb the right tending crack to the ledge at 1.5m height. From the ledge follow the crack to the top.
Upper Buttress
WHO NEEDS HOT ROCK HS
Barry Watts, Audrey O'Toole, Brandon O'Toole, 22nd April 2021.
Climb the pocketed slab left of Trust the fairies.
TRUST THE FAIRIES 15m VD
Barry Watts, Geraldine Murphy, 16/6/2017.
Takes the crack beneath the big boulder, about halfway up move left to left to tackle the easier crack line.
LISTEN TO THE ELVES 15m S
Cormac Flynn, 21/6/2023.
Follow the rock right of the crack with the small hazel bush. Finish up the cracked slab above the small ledge.
FAIRY FLAKES 15m S
Barry Watts, Geraldine Murphy, 16/6/2017.
Takes the crack line in the middle.
GO BIG OR GO HOME HS
Barry Watts, Audrey O'Toole, Tom Van Rensburg, 22nd April 2021.
Climb the cracked wall between Fairy Flakes and Airy Fairy.
AIRY FAIRY 15m S
Barry Watts, Geraldine Murphy, 16/6/2017.
Climb the right slanting wide crack to a ledge, continue straight up.
ASTRAL VOYAGER HS
Barry Watts, Audrey O'Toole, Tom Van Rensburg, 22nd April 2021.
Climb the wall just left of the arete past two small ledges.
JITTERY JOHNSTON S
Audrey O'Toole, Barry Watts, Brandon O'Toole, Maya Van Rensburg, Tom Van Rensburg, 16th April 2021.
Climb the recess 1m right of ASTRAL VOYAGER.
PFIZER DRIVER S
Audrey O'Toole, Brandon O'Toole, Maya Van Rensburg, Barry Watts, Tom Van Rensburg, 16th April 2021.
Climb the line 2m right of JITTERY JOHNSTON to a ledge, finish up the wall on the right.
SUSAN HS
First ascent Paddy O'Brien, David Walsh, 4/8/2022.
First recorded ascent Cormac Flynn, 21/6/2023.
Climb the left hand of two rightward trending crack/groove lines.
CAT WALL HS 4b
Ciara Wall, Tara Matthews, 05/06/2024.
Climb the obvious crack between SUSAN and CAT CALL. Finish up the same wide crack as CAT CALL.
CAT CALL HS
Cormac Flynn, 21/6/2023.
Climb the rib to the left of Cat Scrapes. Finish up the wide crack on good holds.
CAT SCRAPES S
Barry Watts, Audrey O'Toole, Brandon O'Toole, Maya Van Rensburg, Tom Van Rensburg, 16th April 2021.
Climb the corner, difficulty increasing with height.
EXPLODING KITTENS S
Barry Watts, Brandon O'Toole, Maya Van Rensburg, Audrey O'Toole, Tom Van Rensburg, 16th April 2021. Climb the protruding block right of CAT SCRAPES to a small dirty ledge. Continue up the slabby wall right of the arete.
DIVIDE AND CONQUER 10m VD
Conor Warner, Barry Watts, 20/9/2019.
4m left of BOFEY QUINN'S COULOIR there is another buttress, this route takes the single to double cracks on the right hand side of it.
ROCKALANCHE 10m HS
Audrey O'Toole, Barry Watts, 22nd April 2021.
Right of DIVIDE AND CONQUER there is an alcove, climb the left hand crack of this alcove, the right hand crack can be useful for footholds and swallows big gear but take care with some suspect blocks at mid height there.
BOFEY QUINN'S ARETE 10m S
Barry Watts, Brandon O'Toole, Audrey O'Toole, 27/5/2023.
Climb the cracked arete left of the inverted V.
BOFEY QUINN'S COULOIR 10m HS
Barry Watts, Geraldine Murphy, 16/6/2017.
Climb the inverted V right of the bay.
SAMBA BY THE GORT RIVER 10m S
Barry Watts, Geraldine Murphy, 16/6/2017.
2m to the right of BQC climb the rib on the right and enter the wide crack.
THE GREAT FLOOR FOOD ADVENTURE S
Barry Watts, Audrey O'Toole, Brandon O'Toole, 22nd April 2021.
Climb the corner right of SAMBA BY THE GORT RIVER to the large ledge and finish up the slabby wall beyond.
CLEAN SLAB 10m D
First ascent David Walsh, Paddy O'Brien, 4/8/2022.
First recorded ascent Cormac Flynn, 21/6/2023.
A few metres to the right of The Great Floor Food Adventure, there is a wonderfully cracked slab with a large boulder barely hanging on at the bottom. Climb up to the slab by avoiding the precarious boulder. It is diff climbing beyond the boulder height.
PATRICK 10m S
Paddy O'Brien, David Walsh, 4/8/2022.
Climb the rib immediately right of CS.
HAMLET 10m D
Cormac Flynn, 21/6/2023.
Follow up broken rock and cracks to the right of PATRICK.
