Kippure

Kippure
Cipiúr
File:KippurePoor5179w.jpg Kippure, southern slope
Highest point
Elevation
Listing	Marilyn, Hewitt
Coordinates
Geography
Location in Ireland
Location	Wicklow & South Dublin Ireland
Parent range	Wicklow Mountains
OSI/OSNI grid	O112154
Topo map	OSi Discovery 56
Geology
Mountain type	granite

Kippure (Irish: Cipiúr) is a granite mountain that straddles the county boundaries of South Dublin and Wicklow. It is popular for hill walking and outdoor leisure activity owing to its proximity to Dublin city, with its fine views over Dublin Bay towards Howth Head. It has convenient access and easy terrain. At 757 metres (2,484 feet), it is the 73rd highest in the Republic of Ireland.

The townland of Kippure is 1,490 acres and occupies the western flank of the mountain. The ridge between the summits of Kippure and Seefingan defines the northern border of the townland, while the River Liffey in the valley below defines the southern border.

Access

Kippure is easily reached by the Military Road which passes close to the summit, with a spur from the road to an RTÉ transmitter mast at the top.

Watercourses

The slopes of Kippure hold the sources of multiple watercourses, including tributaries that feed the River Liffey, which rises in the Liffey Head Bog on the western slopes of nearby Tonduff Mountain.

Transmitter

File:Top of Kippure.jpg

The base of the transmitter mast on the top of Kippure

At the summit of Kippure is a 127m television and radio transmitter mast, the oldest television transmitter site in the Republic of Ireland. It was first identified as a transmitter site as part of a Radio Éireann survey into potential FM broadcast band radio transmitter sites in the mid-1950s. The Irish Board of Works built an access road to the site in 1959, and by the summer of 1961 the mast was erected. Television trade test transmissions followed, consisting of slide views of Ireland, a testcard, and the music of Count John McCormack.

Telefís Éireann began with transmission from Kippure on 31 December 1961 using the British 405-line TV standard on channel 7, to be followed by a 625-line service on channel H in the summer of 1962. Kippure was the first of the original five main Telefís Éireann transmitters to come into service, the others being, Truskmore (1962), Mount Leinster (1963), Maghera (1963), and Mullaghanish (1963)

VHF FM transmissions of RTÉ Radio (the former Radio Éireann) commenced in 1966, with stereo transmissions beginning in 1969.

405-line transmissions from Kippure ceased in 1978 with the arrival of RTÉ 2, however Kippure did not transmit RTÉ 2 until much later. Initially on Channel J at low power later moving to Channel H with RTÉ 1 moving to Channel E.

Its importance in radio and television transmission has diminished since the late 1970s with the opening of three new UHF transmitter sites at Three Rock in County Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Clermont Carn in County Louth, and Cairn Hill in County Longford, which provide better reception in most areas previously served only by Kippure. Today the Irish DTT service, Saorview, the national FM radio stations, and some commercial radio stations are broadcast from the site.

Current transmissions

Digital television

Frequency	UHF	kW	Multiplex
738 MHz	54	63	Saorview (Mux 1)
770 MHz	58	63	Saorview (Mux 2)

Digital Radio

Frequency	Block	kW	Multiplex
227.36 MHz	12C	20	DAB Ireland Mux 1

Analogue FM radio

Frequency	kW	Service
89.1 MHz	50	RTÉ Radio 1
91.3 MHz	50	RTÉ 2fm
93.5 MHz	50	RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta
98.7 MHz	50	RTÉ lyric fm
100.9 MHz	50	Today FM

See also

• List of mountains in Ireland
• List of Irish counties by highest point