A 1954 postcard…
t’s been there long before even our father’s father’s father’s uncle’s cat was around, and it’ll be there a long time after all of us 
are gone…
t’s been there long before even our father’s father’s father’s uncle’s cat was around, and it’ll be there a long time after all of us 
are gone…And yet, there’s something reassuringly ours about the Great Sugar Loaf mountain that watches over us, no matter whe’er we go around here.
Technically, she’s actually a hill, but I don’t think we need ever tell the Great Sugar Loaf that. Not even the Little Sugar Loaf that lies across the N11, looking out to 
sea, should really be called a hill. These guys are just too big a deal around here not to be called mountains.
sea, should really be called a hill. These guys are just too big a deal around here not to be called mountains.The actual height of the Great Sugar Loaf is 1,644 feet (or 501 metres, if you’re reading this in colour), its isolation and steep slopes giving it The Bono Effect of looking taller than it really is. It’s a trick that actually qualifies this hill as a Marilyn.
Which basically means the Great Sugar Loaf is Hollywood beautiful.
For those of you who need to know such things, our mountain – and it is a mountain! – is composed of Cambrian Quartzite, and, from a certain angle, has often been mistaken for a volcano. But, get this, it is, in fact, an erosion-resistant metamorphosed sedimentary deposit from the deep sea.
Which, when you think about it, is pretty damn obvious.
It’s a wonderful mountain to climb – from car park to peak is about half-an-hour – and the full panoramic views of the Wicklow Mountains, Dublin, Bray, Greystones, Kilcoole, Newcastle and back around, are pretty darn hard to beat. Even in the rain.
It’s a wonderful mountain to climb – from car park to peak is about half-an-hour – and the full panoramic views of the Wicklow Mountains, Dublin, Bray, Greystones, Kilcoole, Newcastle and back around, are pretty darn hard to beat. Even in the rain.
If you haven’t been up to that peak in the last year, get your fat, lazy ass up there TODAY.
There’s a small café on top now, with Belgian chocolate and Irish coffees. And they’re free.
Sugar Loaf Restoration MAY25
Drummin Trees Sugar Loaf Vlad Bodarev 2023
Great Sugar Loaf Mist MON22AUG21 Liz Cusack
Sugar Loaf with Drummin Trees SUN26JULY21 Christian Byrne
Sugar Loaf drive. Pic: Deirdre Kelleher
Sugar Loaf through the Glen Kevin Doyle 30JUNE22
Glen View by Neasa Hayes
Sugar Loaf Mist WEDS12MAY21 Liz Cusack
Sugar Loaf Sunset FRI19MAR21 John McKiernan
Moon Bowling On The Sugar Loaf 26FEB21 Phil McDarby
Moon Bowling On The Sugar Loaf SUN4JAN26 Phil McDarby
Sugar Loaf Mist SAT28NOV20
Sugar Loaf Morning SAT7NOV20 Phil McDarby
Sugar Loaf Sunset 28AUG20 Liz Cusack
Great Sugar Loaf Sunset SUN19APR20 Liz Cusack
Sugar Loaf from Tonduff Mountain WEDS27DEC17 Fearghal Breathnach Photography
Sugar Loaf Huddle March 2018 Shay Murphy
The Sugar Loaf – another angle. Pic: Pippins Parkinson c1980
Sugar Loaf By Night Pic: Alan Currie
Sugar Loaf by JEGPhotoart
Somewhere… California Kev SAT1FEB20
Sugar Loaf Sunset 30MAY17 Design Aid
Sugar Loaf Plays Peek-A-Boo. Pic: Yasmin Fortune
Hanging On. Pic Ian McCann
Red Sky Sugar Loaf. Pic Ian McCann
Both Sugar Loafs from Cherry’s Brow on Blackberry Lane
Same as it ever was…
Sugar Loaf postcard with de horses
Playing peek-a-boo. Pic Phil Pankov
From A Distance… Pic: Tony Garcia
Sugar Loaf Rainbow Tues 26JULY17 Fiona Alston
Small, far away…
Sugar Loaf from the old harbour. Pic Ian McCann
Sugar Loaf Sunset. Pic Ian McCann
Evening Glow 24OCT19 California Kev
Far away, so close… Sugar Loaf Oct 2015. Pic: David Byrne
Sugarloaf Sun. Pic Ciara Tamay [flickr]
Sugarloaf Sunset. Pic hum&haw [flickr]
Sugar Loaf from the Octagon 16APR16 Pablo Photography
From Kindlestown Wood…
Sugar Loaf Stripes 10JUNE19 Jelena Labunskiene
Harbour Boats & Sugar Loaf. Pic: Luke McGuinness
Little Sugar Loaf. With sugar. Pic: Luke McGuinness
The Sugar Loafs from Bray Head postcard
Glen Of The Downs Octagon Distance Source Patrick Neary
Glen of The Downs postcard – colorised, baby
Sugar Loaf Taxis: The Early Years
Glen of The Downs 1867
Glen Of The Downs Sugarloarf Robert French
Glen Of The Downs 1880 Source: Patrick Neary
Glen Of The Downs – 19th Century Rush Hour
Glen Of The Downs Postcard Pic Patrick Neary
Sugar Loaf Postcard
Vintage Sugarloaf postcard from the same stretch…
Glen O’ Downs 1930s David Blair Elliot Colourised
Keep on truckin’…
Sugar Loaf 1980s. Pic: Harry Acheson
Little Sugarloaf 73 B.L.C. Before Lots of Cars
In The Glen Of The Downs Valentine postcard Sugar Loaf Source Patrick Neary
The Sugar Loaf from another angle. Not sure which. Source: Roaringwater Journal
View from Big Sugar Loaf taken 17th Mar 1934
Vintage postcard of, eh, Black Lion & Sugar Loaf
Sugar Loaf Snow. Pic Jody Connaughton
Sugar Loaf Skyline. Pic Jody Connaughton
Sugar Loaf Across The Water. Pic Jody Connaughton
Sugarloaf 5th March 2016 Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR16. Pic: Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR16. Pic: Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR16. Pic: Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR16. Pic: Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR19 Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR16. Pic: Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR19 Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR16. Pic: Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR19 Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR19 Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR19 Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR16. Pic: Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR16. Pic: Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR16. Pic: Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR16. Pic: Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR16. Pic: Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR19 Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR19 Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR19 Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR16. Pic: Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR16. Pic: Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf Climb 5MAR16 Pablo Photography
Little Sugar Loaf Robert French
The Sugar Loaf from Blackberry Lane. Robert French.
Sugarloaf Mountain Robert French
Sugar Loaf from the Glencree side
Early Sugar Loaf history from Alfred P Smyth’s Celtic Newsletter (1982)
Snow-covered Sugar Loaf. Pic: Ramona Farrelly
Sugar Loaf In The Snow. Pic: Harry Acheson
Back when Calary was kicking… Pic: Harry Acheson
Greystones Postcard Little Sugar Loaf. Source: Patrick Neary
Sugar Loaf Aerial shot June 2015 Design Aid
Sugar Loaf Goes Full Xmas. Pic: Unknown
Play Misty For Me… 25AUG14 Pic: Pablo Photography
Misty Climb 25AUG14. Pic: Pablo Photography
Misty Climb 25AUG14. Pic: Pablo Photography
Sugar Loaf horses 25AUG14 Pablo Photography
Misty Climb 25AUG14. Pic: Pablo Photography
Misty Climb 25AUG14. Pic: Pablo Photography
Misty Climb 25AUG14. Pic: Pablo Photography
Great Sugar Loaf Pic Karol Sciubisz
Sugar Loaf & Glenview Hotel 1950s Postcard
Grand harvest this year…
The Sugar Loaf Mountains 1835
Sunset From Kilcoole. Pic: John Kennedy
Sugar Loaf Says Goodnight Eoghan Murray Dec 2017
Katharine Hepburn takes a Sugar Loaf stroll. Pic: Bob Willoughby
Sugar Loaf Sunset 25MAY20 Pic Phil McDarby
Sugar Loaf Snow THURS9JAN25 Kevin Collins 1
Sugar Loaf Snow THURS9JAN25 Kevin Collins 2
1 comment
Where did you source the Robert French images of little sugar loaf? As I’ve not seen them before.
I would love to contact source to buy copies.
Are they part of Lawrence Collection?