Clermont Carn (Irish: Carnán Mhaighréid Náir, meaning 'cairn of noble Margaret'),[1] also known as Black Mountain, is a mountain that rises to 510 metres (1,670 ft) in the Cooley Mountains of County Louth, Ireland. It is at the border with Northern Ireland, and is also the location of the Clermont Carn transmission site. The mountain's name refers to an ancient burial cairn on its summit, and to Lord Clermont of Ravensdale.[1]
Cairn
The 'carn' in the mountain's name refers to an ancient burial monument on its summit,[2][3] also known as 'Black Mountain Chambered Cairn' or 'Ravensdale Park Cairn'. This cairn is 21 m (69 ft) in diameter and over 4 m (13 ft) high, with the remains of another trapezoidal cairn 3.5 m (11 ft) long in the southwest part. Three lintels are in position and the rear part is corbelled. Surrounding this was a court (5.5 × 7 m) and a gallery containing at least two burial chambers.[4]
The Clermont Carn transmission site is situated at the summit of Clermont Carn and was opened in 1981 to provide UHF television coverage for the northeast of the Republic of Ireland, counties Louth, Meath, and North County Dublin.
With the site being less than two kilometres (1.2 mi) from the border it was clear that this transmitter would be used to provide RTÉ services into Northern Ireland. Initially the two channels RTÉ One and RTÉ2 were carried on Ch52 and Ch56 with TV3 on Ch66 and TG4 on Ch68 following later. FM radio transmission was also added providing coverage of the five national channels to its service area, and in 1982, a 2M Amateur Radio Repeater was installed.[9]
In 2002, a new 120-metre-tall (390 ft) cable-stayed mast was erected and this greatly improved coverage into Northern Ireland. The original self-supporting tower was truncated, and is now only used for microwave links and the Amateur Radio Repeater.
Digital terrestrial television (DTT) trials started in 2008, and in common with all 2RN transmitters in Ireland, analogue television transmissions from this site ended on 24 October 2012.[10] Uniquely, Clermont Carn is the only main television transmitter in Ireland that is vertically polarised, and does not service any relay transmitters. Today the Irish digital television service Saorview is broadcast from here to a sizeable area including a large tract of Northern Ireland, with a good signal being received in Belfast and beyond. This overspill has been welcomed by the UK's Ofcom who have provided information for viewers in Northern Ireland about receiving the RTÉ channels and TG4 both from within Northern Ireland on the UK's Freeview service, and via the Saorview overspill.[11]
