Ben of Howth

On a clear morning, we hike up to the Ben of Howth. From there, if you bring your binoculars (or, like me, are particularly keen-​sighted) you can see Wales to the East and the Isle of Man to the NNE.
Just scan the horizon slowly, as if you were looking out for Viking raiders. If you’d ever met any Viking raiders, you’d be up there now trembling in your moccasins.
Scan slowly and you’ll see tiny bumps on the horizon. Amazing. That’s Wales. You have most of the Irish Sea covered. Then it’s just a short stroll down the hill (exit by the quarry entrance) and you’re having breakfast down in the Village (that’s where the big church is, and it’s an Assumption (joke).

After a bit of a hike around the cliffs, we decided it cut back over Howth’s heathery inland. It was a bit rough, and the path we followed turned out not to be an actual trail. We slogged our way through the brush for a few minutes until we found a groove carved by some wild thing which led us to a lightly used but clearly established trail. We followed this to a real path and discovered that by chance we had scaled Black Linn, the 171 meter «summit» of the hill called Ben of Howth. After trekking through what felt like remote, isolated countryside, we were deposited on this rocky outcrop with a spectacular view of Howth below, of Ireland’s Eye in the distance, and of the sea all around. We came here by chance, but I’ll be dragging visitors up here in the future.

Ben of Howth is a hill on Howth Head that has the most breathtaking view of the sea, Ireland’s eye and the neighbouring golf course. It’s 171 metres high and on a sunny summer’s day, I can think of no better place to drive to.
There isn’t much to do here, only hike and enjoy the sights. Yellow rhododendrons and purple heather grow on the hillside which makes the place idyllic.
This is a great spot for first time visitors to Ireland. It makes the country seem rugged, wild and beautiful.