Sawel Mountain is the highest peak in the Sperrin Mountains, and the 8th highest in Northern Ireland. It is also the highest mountain in Northern Ireland outside of the Mourne Mountain range located in County Down.

Geography

To the north of Sawel is County Londonderry and to the south, County Tyrone. The summit is 678 m high and is composed of crystalline limestone. Around the peak, there is "montane heathland", with plant life including heather, bilberries and cowberries, although this is being damaged by hillwalking and grazing. Sawel is the source of the River Faughan, a 29 mi long tributary of the River Foyle.

Naming

The Irish name of the mountain is a reference to a glen or hollow on the side of Sawel. It was also historically called Slieve Sawel, from the Irish word sliabh ("mountain").

Plane crash

On 5 January 1944 a Royal Navy Stinson Reliant (FK914) of 878 Naval Air Squadron was on a flight from RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet) to RNAS Machrihanish (HMS Landrail) when it crashed into Sawel Mountain in bad weather, killing all three crew. Due to snow drifts on the mountain the bodies of the crew weren't recovered until 29th January.