A reviving walk on ancient Loughanleagh Mountain

Times Past

Jonathan Smyth

On a Saturday afternoon we set out for Loughanleagh Mountain. News of the fuel crisis was being transmitted on the car radio. Amid the global stories of humanitarian catastrophe, we turned off the radio and parked the car. I must admit that it was my first visit to the mountain and I looked forward to the walk and the view from the highest point.

The sun shone mostly and, even though there was a cold nip in the air, it was great to be outside. Loughanleagh featured prominently in the county’s distant past and the opportunity of walking its paths was not something I wanted to pass up on when the opportunity arose. Loughanleagh, which means the Lake of Cures, is part of a mountain range once known to the ancients as Sliabh Gaileng, which means the mountain of the Gailenga tribe.

At the starting point, there were display boards providing information for visitors. Beside this area, a sign indicated the location of a Mass Rock, which is still used for a Dawn Mass at Easter. Having digested the details on the boards, we set off along the path while coming dark clouds danced above as they worked their way across the sky.

The rain then started pelting down, but by the time we made our way through the forest the rain had stopped, and we were glad to see the sun return, even though the biting wind still numbed our ears.

Loughanleagh Mountain is situated between Bailieborough and Kingscourt and, at its highest vantage point from Moyer Cairn, it reaches 1, 119 feet from where you can see up to 14 counties on a dry, bright day. A triangulation pillar belonging to the ordnance survey stands in the centre of Moyer Cairn. This cairn has a diameter of twenty metres. In the distance, wind turbines add a modern touch to the landscape and help to generate environmentally clean electricity for the country’s power grid.

CURES

The aforementioned Lake of Cures was a famous body of water on the mountain top and people came from far and wide to receive the benefits of its healing mineral rich properties found in the mud of the lake floor. Sadly, the lake, I am told, dried up, and completely disappeared. A surviving tradition tells of a priest during penal times who was saying Mass when he received a warning about an approaching army and to protect the worshippers he threw the chalice into the water. Thereby, the cup’s healing powers became part of the lake.

People suffering from skin ailments ascended Loughanleagh to get the mud, which they applied to the affected areas. Money was to be made too. The flow of ill people lodged in Bailieborough’s boarding houses which brought surplus trade to the town and according to records found in the Schools Collection held by the Folklore Commission we learn of an enterprising Dublin merchant who got the idea of bottling and selling the water at two shillings a gallon.

NATURE LOVERS

For nature lovers who go there, they will be familiar with the different varieties of heather that grow on Loughanleagh’s slopes, as well as the Bilberry plant. Towards the end of July, an annual Bilberry Sunday was held when the local community came together to pick the berries. The event was a time of celebration and families shared picnics with each other, others danced and, in some cases, there was even a spot of matchmaking. The birdlife, too, brings out the wonderful ‘twitcher’ brigade. Skylarks, sparrowhawks, kestrels, goldcrests, and peregrine falcons inhabit the magnificent landscape. Amongst the other creatures on Loughanleagh, you will find mice and hares. Stories about a magical hare are associated with the site. Afterall, tales of both the natural and supernatural worlds exist to be enjoyed.

CAIRNS

Every so often signs appeared along the route indicating the site of cairns. The cairns, or burial mounds, are located on three of the highest points on Loughanleagh where it is said that an important person may be buried.

In his ‘Archaeological Inventory of County Cavan,’ Patrick F. O’Donovan provides details on what a cairn is and explains they are structures built with loose stones that are accumulated into a mound. Cairns are associated with the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age period and generally mark the burial place of an important chieftains or nobleman, while in other cases they were built as a monument to memory of someone and, at other times, they were simply just made as boundary markers.

The Corraweelis Cairn, which lies in a South-Southwest direction, is covered in heather. I did not see the third cairn at Mohercrom, which according to Megalithic Ireland is obscured by forestry. Sadly, over the years, many of the stones have been taken from the top of the cairns, no doubt as trophy pieces.

We soon arrived back at the car after completing our walk and the radio soon again reminded us of the serious prospects facing farmers and hauliers amidst the awful fuel crisis. As we wondered how farms could stay in business and what might happen come silage time. But it had been a good afternoon and for now at least, we hoped for a better tomorrow.

FÓGRA

A few days after our walk on the heights of Loughanleagh, I called to Cavan Genealogy Centre and asked if they had seen any literature about the mountain. I discovered leaflets from the Loughanleagh and Muff Heritage Trust had recently been left in. This group has done a magnificent job in promoting Loughanleagh and the surrounding district, which they describe as a ‘hidden gem in Cavan’s Ancient East’.

The brochure is a must have for walkers, historians, artists, poets, and nature lovers who make it their business to visit. I would recommend bringing the leaflet with you or at least to have read it before going there. It will enrich your experience.