| Caher West Top | |
| Photo Size: | 240px |
| Elevation M: | 973.4 |
| Elevation Ref: | [1] |
| Prominence M: | 24.05 |
| Location: | County Kerry, Republic of Ireland |
| Range: | MacGillycuddy's Reeks |
| Map: | Ireland |
| Label Position: | right |
| Map Size: | 200 |
| Coordinates: | 51.9954°N -9.7625°W |
| Listing: | Vandeleur-Lynam, Furth |
| Grid Ref Ireland: | V790840 |
| Topo: | OSI Discovery 78 |
| Type: | Purple sandstone & siltstone, (Ballinskelligs Sandstone Formation) |
Caher West Top [2] at 973.4m (3,193.6feet), is the fifth-highest peak in Ireland on the Irish Vandeleur-Lynam classification, and part of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks range. Caher West Top is the only Furth to have a prominence below 30m (100feet).
The mountain is located about 500 metres west of Caher East Top and is part of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks of County Kerry.[3] Caher West Top is often climbed as part of the Coomloughra Horseshoe, which takes 6-8 hours and is described as "one of Ireland’s classic ridge walks".[4] The horseshoe takes in other neighbouring peaks such as Carrauntoohil, Beenkeragh, The Bones (including the Beenkeragh Ridge), Skregmore, and Cnoc Iochtair.[5]
Climbers refer to the narrow path that runs along the top of Caher West Top and neighboring Caher, as Caher Ridge.[6] [7]
Caher West Top is regarded by the Scottish Mountaineering Club ("SMC") as one of 34 Furths, which is a mountain above 30001NaN1 in elevation, and meets the other SMC criteria for a Munro (e.g. "sufficient separation"), but which is outside of (or furth) Scotland;[8] which is why Caher West Top is sometimes referred to as one of the 13 Irish Munros; it is the only one of the 34 Furths on the official SMC list that has a topographic prominence below 30m (100feet).[9]
Because of Caher West Top's low prominence, it does not appear in the Irish Arderin classification, or the British Isles Simm and Hewitt classifications.[10] Caher West Top does also not appear in the MountainViews Online Database, 100 Highest Irish Mountains, as the prominence threshold is 1000NaN0.[11]