Irish academic Paul Tempan records that Binn Mhór has also been called "Shannakeala".
Geography
Binn Mhór lies on a small massif in the southeast sector of the Maumturks range, separated from the main range by a deep east-west mountain pass called Máméan. Máméan has been a site of pilgrimage dedicated to Saint Patrick since the 5th century, and several historical items are dug into the lower southerly slopes of Binn Chaonaigh, on the northern side of Máméan, including a holy well, a cleft in the rock known as Saint Patrick's Bed where the saint reputedly slept, a circle of stones for the Stations of the Cross, and a Mass Rock. Binn Mhór's massif has a high east-west ridge with three subsidiary peaks. To the west, and directly overlooking Máméan, is the subsidiary summit of Binn Mhór WestTop also known as Binn Ramhar, whose prominence of qualifies it as an Arderin Beg. To the east along the ridge are the subsidiary summits of Binn Mhór NE Top, whose prominence of qualifies it as an Vandeleur-Lynam; and Binn Mhór East Top, whose prominence of only means it does not qualify on any recognised scale. Further east along the ridge of Binn Mhor's massif lie the peaks of Mullach Glas and Corcogemore. Binn Mhór's |prominence of qualifies it as a Marilyn, and it also ranks as the 89th-highest mountain in Ireland on the MountainViews Online Database, 100 Highest Irish Mountains, where the minimum prominence is 100 metres.
Hill walking
The most straightforward route to the summit of Binn Mhór is the 6-kilometre 2-hour roundtrip route from the pass at Máméan and back; however, because of its positioning on a high ridge of its own small massif, it can also be climbed as a 10-kilometre 4–5 hour route from Corcogemore in the west, across Mullach Ghlas, to the summit of Binn Mhor, and then finishing down at Máméan. Binn Mhór is also climbed as part of the Maamturks Challenge, a 25-kilometre 10–12 hour walk over the full Maumturks range, which is considered one of the "great classic ridge-walks of Ireland", but of "extreme grade" due to the circa 7,600 feet of total ascent. Since 1975, the University College Galway Mountaineering Club has run the annual "Maamturks Challenge Walk", and man a checkpoint in the Máméan pass; climbers descend from Binn Mhór at 661 metres to Máméan at only 150 metres, before re-ascending to Binn Chaonaigh at 633 metres.
