All-Ireland hill list rankings
25 Irish hill lists ranked based on their originality and contribution to hillwalking
All-Ireland hill lists are promoted across a variety of sources online. Some of these lists are based on original map-based research, while others have been derived by simply extracting, copying and merging original third-party source data. Depending on where lists are presented, their true origins are not always fully explained.
To make things a bit clearer, we have undertaken some unique research of our own to find out how original each Irish hill list actually is, what contribution it has made to other lists, and what contribution it has made to hillwalking initiatives outside the traditional peakbagging format. This deep dive into the history of modern Irish hill lists and how they relate to each other is the first in-depth study of its kind. The process has generated a score for each list which allows us to place it in the first-ever All-Ireland hill list rankings.
The 25 All-Ireland hill lists currently being promoted online are all listed in the table below along with their rank position and points score:
To make things a bit clearer, we have undertaken some unique research of our own to find out how original each Irish hill list actually is, what contribution it has made to other lists, and what contribution it has made to hillwalking initiatives outside the traditional peakbagging format. This deep dive into the history of modern Irish hill lists and how they relate to each other is the first in-depth study of its kind. The process has generated a score for each list which allows us to place it in the first-ever All-Ireland hill list rankings.
The 25 All-Ireland hill lists currently being promoted online are all listed in the table below along with their rank position and points score:
Rank positions & points scores
The table below shows the rank positions of the 25 All-Ireland hill lists which are currently being promoted across a variety of online sources. Each list's position in the rankings is based on its point score generated using a score system which takes into account how original the list actually is, what contribution it has made to other lists, and what contribution it has made to hillwalking initiatives outside the traditional peakbagging format. Click here for details of the scoring system used...
If two or more lists have the same score, their rank positions have been determined by the number of locations. If two or more lists have the same score AND the same number of locations, those lists have been awarded a joint rank position.
If two or more lists have the same score, their rank positions have been determined by the number of locations. If two or more lists have the same score AND the same number of locations, those lists have been awarded a joint rank position.
| Hill list name | Rank position | Points score |
|---|---|---|
| The Irish Marilyns | 1 | 64.286 |
| The Irish Hewitts | 2 | 39.346 |
| The 400-Metre Tops of Ireland | 3 | 32.754 |
| The Irish Humps | 4 | 24.022 |
| The 500-Metre Tops of Ireland | 5 | 22.484 |
| Ireland's County High Points | 6 | 17.061 |
| Ireland's Major Geographical HPs | 7 | 16.939 |
| Vandeleur-Lynams | 8 | 16.342 |
| Ireland's Province High Points | 9 | 13.892 |
| The Dillons | 10 | 13.674 |
| Ireland's Range High Points | 11 | 13.5 |
| Ireland's 20km Isolation High Points | 12 | 11.96 |
| Ireland's Major Island High Points | 13 | 11.6 |
| Ireland's Major River High Points | 14 | 11.4 |
| Irish Championship Summits | 15 | 5 |
| Ireland's Local Council High Points | 16 | 4.681 |
| The Slievemores | 17 | 2 |
| Ireland's 100 Highest Mountains | 18= | 1 |
| Ireland's 100 Most-Prominent Summits | 18= | 1 |
| Ireland's 500m Prominence High Points | 20 | 1 |
| Irish Sport Hillwalking Locations | 21 | 0 |
| Binnions | 22 | 0 |
| Arderins | 23 | 0 |
| Irish Highest Hundred | 24 | 0 |
| Carns | 25= | -1 |
| MountainViews Area High Points | 25= | -1 |
Scoring system
Each All-Ireland hill list has been assigned a point score in order to determine its rank position. The scoring system used for this process takes into account how original a list actually is, what contribution it has made to other lists, and what contribution it has made to hillwalking initiatives outside the traditional peakbagging format. Scores were generated for each list based on the following:
Originality
- Add 1 point for every 10% of its locations identified from original map-based research.
Original locations
- Add 1 point for every 50 original locations.
Contribution to other lists
- Add 1 point for every 10% of locations on each other list which were identified by using the subject list as a source.
Year-long All-Ireland list challenge
- Add 1 point if the list is promoted as a year-long All-Ireland list challenge.
Contribution to local single-day hillwalking challenges
- Add 1 point if the list has been used to identify local single-day list challenges.
Dedicated list for Irish Sport Hillwalking Specialist Award competitions
- Add 3 points if a Specialist Award competition is based entirely on the list.
Dedicated list for the All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships
- Add 5 points if the All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships are based entirely on the list.
Substandard locations
- Minus 1 point for each 10% of locations on the list which are neither proper summits nor High Points.
Full duplication and renaming of source list
- Minus 1 point if the list has been created by simply duplicating a third-party source list in full and promoting it under a new name.
Created purely as an attempt to oust a third-party original list
- Minus 1 point if the list has been deliberately created for the purpose of ousting and replacing an already established and more superior third-party original list.
Hillwalking in Ireland
