Beyond Newtownhamilton, it was only a couple of miles on the A29 before our right turn, which was actually signposted for Carrigatuke. The road up didn't lead us to expect we were heading to a beauty spot; it was more indicative of an access road to a council tip!  I pulled the car in and first discovered another new radio station - Ocean Sound 102.5 from County Longford. We walked the rest of the way to the summit, beyond the car park barrier and over to a corner of a wire fence which seemed to be a useful activation point. I slotted the pole into the fence, and then ran the 80m dipole legs out more or less at right-angles to each other, following the edges of the car park. We bedded down under the trig point, using it to shelter from the ever-present wind, and opened up on 3.557MHz CW.

       

It seems all were aware of where I was going to be. Indeed, I had mentioned to Phil G4OBK "We are doing one more today, in about two hours" when I closed on SSB on Gruggandoo GI/MM-013. Phil had spread the word, and I worked 25 stations on CW in just 32 minutes. 10 DXCCs worked were G, GM, GW, GI, EI, DL, F, HB, OK and LA. Jimmy took over on 3.660MHz SSB, and worked four stations in four minutes, following which the frequency was empty. His incoming reports were not terrific, indicating that his chasers were struggling with the QRM.

QRT at 8.35pm, and now in darkness. We packed up swiftly, and wasted no time marching down to the car. A quick scan around the car radio brought in Country Mix 106.8 from Dublin, and we were driving away by 9.05pm. We must have been feeling over-satisfied with our four-summit day, for we continued on the A29 at Newtownhamilton, not realising our mistake until the mileages for Dundalk and Dublin were getting successively lower! Our escape route was the B30 back up to Newry, which led us to a chippy in Silverbridge. Fish and chips twice was enjoyed in the car, before we got back to the business of driving back up to Larne. Which was a long, long way away to the North! We arrived back at Grandad Jimmy's place on the stroke of midnight. What a long day for four easy summits!

But, although we had given up on Slieve Gullion GI/CA-001, we had really done everything we wanted to do, and a full day ahead of schedule. We could now give ourselves a real treat and icing on the cake tomorrow, by getting into the Mournes proper, and activating Northern Ireland's highest peak.  Many thanks to the following stations, all worked on 80m with 5 watts: