(S/E) From Kate Kearney's Cottage hotel restaurant car park, take the paved road which carries on from the one arriving from Beaufort. This is the only road through the Gap of Dunloe, which must be followed for approximately 6 km.
In the last hectometres, it's a climb in hairpin turns to reach the top of the pass (Head of the Gap of Dunloe). A slab marks the separation between the Gap and the next valley, the Black Valley, which the main road dives into.
(1) When you reach Head of Dunloe, go left (East) at the top of the pass, where there's a small improvised car park with about two spaces, you'll notice a small, discreet and unmarked path which first overlooks the road leading to the pass, before tackling the steep slope of the mountain.
You can then make out the summit of Purple Mountain in the background on the left. The trail ascends over about 400m, due East.
(2) Turn off to the left (North - North - East) and enter a small ravine that follows the bed of a practically dry stream. Head up the ravine along the brook for about 800m.
The path is not always easy to follow. Keep to the left of the path in order to avoid confusing it with the stony bed of the stream where progress is less easy. Behind you is the Black Valley and, on the left, the summit of Carrauntuohil. Don't venture too far to the left of the plateau, on the edge of the ravine (you then overlook the Gap of Dunloe road). After about 800m, the path leads to a small lake, Glas Lough.
(3)Go around the lake to the left.
(4) The path quickly branches off to the right (East) and goes up a steep slope on the hillside, again following the bed of a small stream, at the foot of a rocky outcrop which it bypasses after 200m.
(5) The path then turns left (North - North - East) and takes the final slope towards the summit (which is not the Western summit that we can see from the start of the ascent, but a second summit hidden behind). The path is not very visible in places and sometimes diverse, but continues towards the summit in direction North-North-East.
In the last hectometres, it's a steep and rocky climb to reach a pass. Give the Western summit climb a go (in one minute). Stunning panorama on the Carrauntuohil, the Gap of Dunloe, the Black Valley and the ocean in the background.
::6: From the pass, the path climbs the final scree on the right (East - North - East), which leads to the summit of Purple Mountain after 300m. Beautiful views over the Upper Lake of Killarney to the South.
(7) Return using the same path. The descent is in the opposite direction towards Kate Kearney's Cottage hotel restaurant car park (D/A).