Nephin

Nephin or Nefin (Irish: Néifinn), at 806 metres (2646 ft), is the second-highest peak in Connacht (after Mweelrea), Ireland. It is to the west of Lough Conn in County Mayo. Néifinn is variously translated as meaning 'heavenly' or 'sanctuary'.

Location

It lies in the centre of Gleann Néifinne, a district bounded by Lough Conn to the east, the Windy Gap/Barnageehy to the south, and Birreencorragh mountain to the west. Its northern limit was in 1838 noted as the townland of Ballybrinoge in the parish of Crossmolina. However, a prose tract of the 14th/15th century makes clear that its northern and western borders were contracted during the later medieval era.

History

Nephin is mentioned in Cath Maige Tuired ("The Battle of Moytura") as one of the "twelve chief mountains" of Ireland. In the text it is called Nemthenn. This name may be related to nemeton, a term for a sacred space in Celtic polytheism.

The mountain's importance may be inferred by the decision at the Synod of Raith Bressail in 1111 to make Nephin the northern boundary of the diocese of Cong.