Bunmahon
General
Location - The crag is situated to the south-west of Bunmahon caravan/camping site on the east side of a stony beach (Tr na mB) at the end of the track (Grid Ref. X428981).
There is a small car park at the beach, at the sharp bend of the regional road in the village. Walk up the stony track (5 min) which heads uphill and south west at the sharp bend in the village. If you prefer to drive up, cars can be parked at the end of the track which overlooks the crag.
A short section flanks the beach. The rest is tidal, although some of the routes are possible at high tide if abseiled.
The rock is old red sandstone which by its nature is a friable rock, thus it must be treated with the greatest of respect. For this reason, holds and protection should be treated with extreme care. Thus, this cliff has become popular with local climbers for top-roping, in particular the west facing slabs.
Beach (north) facing
VOYAGERS 24m VS 4b
F. Nugent, M. Daly, 20th July 1986
Start at the beach behind sandstone pillar Lot's Wife. Climb the obvious vertical corner which trends left at the top. Good protection with the crux at the top.
LOT'S ESCAPE 11m E1 5b/5c
M. Daly, F Nugent, 6th July 1986
Start immediately right of Voyagers. Climb diagonally right to a stance at 3 m. Climb the wall on small holds ( wires ) to niche at 10 m. Follow crack to below overhang. Move left and climb overhang on good holds. Follow crack to top.
West end
GAVIN'S DELIGHT 30m HS 4b
F Nugent, M Daly, 5th July, 1986
Start 10 m right of Lot's Escape. Mount short vertical wall left of deep cave. Climb up fault to overlap. Climb overlap on good holds to a short corner. Gain a grass ledge. Climb steep 4 m corner/pillar and over ledges to top.
LOT'S DESIRE 25m HVS 5a
M Daly, F. Nugent, 6th July 1986
Start mid-way along black, north-facing wall right of Gavins Delight. Climb crack to gain a rightward trending ledge. Continue to gain a leftward sloping ramp at 6 m. Move diagonally leftward to gain a grass ledge at base of vertical crack. Climb this ( crux ) to good ledge at the top. Adequate protection can be arranged.
MASTER MCGRATH'S WATERLOO 26m E1 5b
M Daly, F Nugent, 20 July 1986
Start round the corner from Lot's Desire, there's a bay at 10 ft. Start here at high tide. At low tide climb crack to bay. Climb wall using pillar on left for a few feet. Bridge to small foothold on the wall. Using finger jam crack in the centre of the wall (small wires) pull up rightwards to foothold on arête. Step up leftwards to niche below overhang. Surmount to stance. Climb delicately to top of the pillar. Using letterbox pull up to overhang. Surmount strenuously using jugs and then good jams. Climb twin cracks to the top.
THE MORESBY WRECK 27m VS 4c
M Daly, P Daly, 7th July 1985
Start in a large cave left of an obvious prow. Climb rightward trending wall of cave to finger crack below overhang. Traverse right to small foothold on the edge. Pull up onto small ledge. Climb diagonally rightwards onto prow. Follow a series of ledges to base of grove which is climbed to the top.
COBWEB CORNER 26m E1 5b
M Daly, P Daly, 31st August, 1984
Start at the obvious jam crack right of prow. Gain sloping ramp and follow to base of crack. Climb to ledge below overhang. Surmount ( hard ) and jam strenuously to small stance. Continue until large ledge. Climb corner at the back of the ledge delicately to the top.
BOOK OF WISDOM 20 m HS 5a
T Pfeifer, B McConnell, 1st September 2011
Between Cobweb Corner and Outside Track, a wall about 50 cm thick stands with a slight southwards tilt like a single book in the shelf. Climb the left arête of the wall on good holds and friction to the overhang. Traverse right (crux) to finish the overhang of Outside Track or the arête of Pat's Route. Good protection.
Variation: HVS 5c
(top-roped so far) finish straight, straddling up on the right side of the overhang, and towards the big wall on the left. Beware of loose boulders at the top
OUTSIDE TRACK 14m HS 4a
F Nugent, M Daly, 6th July, 1986
Start 5 m right of Cobweb Corner. There is a slab with an overhang at the top. Climb the left edge of the slab to short boot crack. Exit through the overhang using this crack. Well protected.
PAT'S ROUTE 18m VD
P Daly, M Daly, 7th July 1984
The prominent ridge between the west end and the south-facing bay. Beware of loose boulders at the top.
South-facing bay
UNKNOWN ROUTE 18m VS 4c
B McHugh, M Daly, 1984
Start in sandy bay right of Pat's Route. Climb wall and gain horizontal crack. Pull up awkwardly to leftward sloping ramp. Climb wall above and gain easy slab. Follow to top.
FIST FULL OF DYNAMITE 17m E1 5b
M Daly, B McHugh, 10 August, 1984
Start at the obvious black overhanging crack at the back of the bay. From the cave, gain the sloping ledge left of crack line (awkward). Bridge and jam past chock-stone to top of the crack. Make a long step right onto square cut hold (crux). Reach for jugs for final pull up.
FLAKE CLIMB 13m VS 4c
M Daly, B McHugh, 11th August, 1984
Start at the obvious crack right of Fist Full of Dynamite. Difficult move up to nose. Climb crack to flake and surmount. Continue to top.
BAZZUKA 13m VS 4c
B McHugh, M Daly, 11th August, 1984
Start at the crack 8 m right of Flake Climb. Climb crack to flake. Surmount this and continue to the top. Difficulty increases with height.
South-facing wall
The wall starts with some scrambles, before it comes to the climbs
LEMY MARTIN 17m HVS 5a
M Daly, F Nugent, 2nd November 1986
Start at the obvious corner in steep wall in the centre of the south facing wall. Climb steeply to gain a sloping ledge on left (poor rest). Continue to higher ledge (crux) and base of jam crack. Bridge and jam to top.
CARRICK-ON-KELLY 20m S
F Nugent, M Daly, 2nd November 1986
Start right of Lemy Martin. Climb short wall and pull onto large sloping ledge. Step left and climb short corner. Move left and pull up over the top.
