Kilkenny’s Highest Point

Brandon Hill is Kilkenny’s highest point. It is 515 meters high and has an ascent of 300 meters. It is situated 4 kilometres South-SouthWest of Graiguenamanagh and 7 kilometres east of Inistioge. The start of the walk is situated up a small woodland lane that is very easy to miss.

How to get to Brandon Hill Kilkenny

We drove from Graiguenamanagh, once you go over the bridge you take a right turn for Inistoge on the L4209.

Brandon hill kilkennys highest point

Continue on that road until you see the house in the below picture and then you take a left up the lane beside the house. This house is very easy to miss, we have climbed this before but we still managed to miss it and drive halfway to Inistioge by mistake.

Old Carpark
Turn up the Lane beside this house

Hiking Brandon Hill Graig

We walked straight up through the metal barrier and up the hill. Even at this point, the views on our lefthand side of the landscape were beautiful.

At the top of the small gravel track, before we entered the woodland hill, we turned right, and then shortly after we climbed over a stile. We were greeted by some very friendly sheep, I think they thought we had food in our big blue bag.

Brandon hill hike kilkenny 32 peaks guide

Walking the Trail

We kept left and followed the wooded forest area until we came to a corner where we turned right and followed a stony path up a steep hill, opposite the stone wall and fence on the left-hand side.

The ground was very uneven and stony so we would advise wearing good hiking boots to protect your ankles and hiking poles can come in handy for this section. We saw a lot of sheep wandering around through the purple heather, it was lovely to see. We continued to follow this stony path and met a path coming in from the right. We kept straight and followed the path along the forest boundary, the path bends left. We took the next path on the right (you will see a white arrow with a picture of a cross on your left pointing up towards the path on your right-hand side)

We stopped every so often to look around and enjoy the beautiful views of the landscape.

Irelands highest points kilkenny

Brandon Hill Kilkenny Summit

Take the path on your right and that will lead you to the top of the hill. When you reach the top of Brandon Hill you will see a large metal cross on your left. Straight ahead you will see the cairn and trig pillar which is the highest point of Kilkenny.

We took a few pictures and walked around exploring our summit before retracing our steps back down by taking the path left to the large metal cross.

Brandon Hill Map

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Brandon Hill Hike Summary

Overall we really enjoyed this hike, we would recommend waiting for a fine day so you can really enjoy the panoramic views at the top, also wear good supportive boots as the ground is very uneven in some sections.  The hikes signposts are not great but the trail is cut into the ground very well and it is hard to walk off the trail. It is not too exposed until you reach the top but when you start descending again you get shelter nearly immediately.

2022 Update- Brandon Hill Kilkenny

We eventually got to hike this mountain again this year and we realised that the route has been updated with new markers and a longer route through the woods.

Brandon New Car park location

Thankfully, the Brandon hill car park has been extended to take more cars. The car park is called Raheendonore car park and can easily take 50+ cars.

We walked the new route with our 3 kids, aged 1,3 and 5 years old. The kids loved the hike to Brandon and 2 of them have already climbed it a couple of times.

Markers have been placed at all junctions detailing the distance and duration to the summit. We walked up the new route and back down the route described in the original post, as it is quicker to descend this way.

Brandon Hill- New Route Key facts