I had wanted to climb this vast and imposing mountain during our holiday, but the road to relaxation is paved with good intentions (or something like that). Looking up at its towering bulk, and its relationship to the surrounding countryside, it’s easy to see why the mantle of sacred hill would be bestowed on it, and probably a very long time before St. Brynach hove into view.
The translation of ‘Carn Ingli’ is literally ‘The Mountain of Angels’, after the Celtic St. Brynach experienced visions and conversations with angels there. This extinct volcano, sporting a huge and wonderful craggy outcrop, is home to an Iron Age hillfort, and various settlements and enclosures.
Agree -- the tradition of sanctity probably goes back to the pre-Christian era. The profile of the mountain may have something to do with it -- from the south the mountain summit takes on the silhouette of a female, reclining on her back. So the mountain was -- according to Laurence Main -- deemed to be a goddess or sacred figure worthy of worship. In the Middle Ages the mountain was known as Mons Angelorum. The tradition of St Brynach is still alive -- and people use the mountain frequently for sacred rituals of all sorts.