Mount Gabriel


Mount Gabriel is a mountain on the Mizen Peninsula immediately to the north of the town of Schull in County Cork, Ireland. The Irish name, Cnoc Osta translates as 'hill of the encampment'.
Mount Gabriel is high and is the highest eminence in the coastal zone south and east of Bantry Bay. A roadway serving the radar installations on the summit is open to the public.
From the peak of Mount Gabriel, there are views south over Schull Harbour and Long Island Bay. To the east and southeast, the views take in Roaringwater Bay and its many islands, known as Carbery's Hundred Isles. North and west are the mountains of the Beara Peninsula and south Kerry. Fastnet Rock is approximately to the south, and is visible in fine weather.

Mining

On the southern and eastern slopes of the mountain there is evidence of Bronze Age mining, principally for copper. Some of the archaeological items found are now in the National Museum in Dublin.

Radar domes

In the late 1970s, as part of the development of Eurocontrol, two radar domes were built on the top of the mountain.
In September 1982 the Irish National Liberation Army, an Irish republican paramilitary group, blew up the radar domes, wrongly claiming that they were being used by NATO in violation of Irish neutrality.