Mountains of Mourne

Mourne Mountains
Na Beanna Boirche
View of the Mournes from St John's Point, County Down
Highest point
Peak	Slieve Donard
Elevation	850 m (2,790 ft)
Geography
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	Northern Ireland
Counties	County Down
Geology
Type of rock	Granite

The Mourne Mountains (pronounced /ˈmɔərn/ MOHRN; Irish: na Beanna Boirche), also called the Mournes or Mountains of Mourne, are a granite mountain range in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. It includes the highest mountains in Northern Ireland and the province of Ulster. The highest of these is Slieve Donard at 850 m (2,790 ft). The Mournes is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has been proposed as the first national park in Northern Ireland. The area is partly owned by the National Trust and sees a large number of visitors every year. The name Mourne (historically spelt Morne) is derived from the name of a Gaelic clann or sept called the Múghdhorna.

The Mournes are visited by many tourists, hillwalkers, cyclists and rock climbers. Following a fundraising drive in 1993, the National Trust purchased nearly 5.3 km² (1,300 acres) of land in the Mournes. This included a part of Slieve Donard and nearby Slieve Commedagh, at 767 m (2,516 ft) the second-highest mountain in the area.

The Mourne Wall is among the more famous features in the Mournes. It is a 35 km (22-mile) dry-stone wall that crosses fifteen summits, constructed to define the boundaries of the 36 km² (8,900-acre) area of land purchased by the Belfast Water Commissioners in the late nineteenth century. This followed a number of Acts of Parliament allowing the sale, and the establishment of a water supply from the Mournes to the growing industrial city of Belfast. Construction of the Mourne Wall was started in 1904 and was completed in 1922.