| Sawel | |
| Other Name: | Samhail or Samhail Phite Méabha |
| Elevation M: | 678 |
| Elevation Ref: | [1] |
| Prominence M: | 580 |
| Listing: | County Top (Londonderry and Tyrone), Marilyn, Hewitt |
| Translation: | likeness to Méabh's vulva |
| Language: | Irish |
| Coordinates: | 54.8167°N -9°W |
| Location: | County Londonderry/County Tyrone,[2] Northern Ireland |
| Range: | Sperrins |
| Map: | Northern Ireland#Island of Ireland#United Kingdom |
| Map Relief: | yes |
| Grid Ref Ireland: | H618973 |
| Topo: | OSNI Discoverer Series 13 The Sperrins (1:50000), OSNI Activity Map Sperrins (1:25000) |
| Type: | Psammite & semipellite |
Sawel Mountain [3] [4] 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.
To the north of Sawel is County Londonderry and to the south, County Tyrone. The summit is 678m (2,224feet) high and is composed of crystalline limestone.[5] [6] Around the peak, there is "montane heathland", with plant life including heather, bilberries and cowberries, although this is being damaged by hillwalking and grazing.[7] Sawel is the source of the River Faughan, a 29miles long tributary of the River Foyle.[8]
The Irish name of the mountain is a reference to a glen or hollow on the side of Sawel.[3] [4] It was also historically called Slieve Sawel,[9] [10] [11] from the Irish word sliabh ("mountain").
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.[12] [13]