Gone to Pot
The Shannon. Ireland’s largest river, at a magnificent 360kms, comes bubbling out of the ground close to the border between Cavan and Fermanagh in the Cuilcagh Mountains, at a place quaintly called The Shannon Pot or Log na Sionna as Gaeilge “The Hollow of the Shannon”. It’s a large pool of golden brown water about 16 metres in diameter and at least 9 metres deep. The water reaches the Pot through a network of underground streams and many say that it actually starts in County Fermanagh at a place called the Pigeon Pot. An experiment saw some green dye poured into the Pigeon Pot and observing that it eventually travelled underground to reach the Shannon Pot! In truth there are probably multiple streams feeding into it. This area is full of extensive cave networks and Marble Arch Caves, on the other side of the Mountain, are worth a visit.
Rivers and streams play important roles in Irish mythology as a boundary between this World and the Otherworld. Almost all Irish Rivers bear names associated with the Goddesses of the mysterious Tuatha Dé Danann. And so it came to pass that The Shannon was named after Sionann, granddaughter of the Manannán Mac Lir, the Irish Sea God. She visited the pool at the source of the river to catch the Salmon of Knowledge, just like Fiona Mac Cumhaill. That didn’t work out too well and the water rose up and drowned her!
There’s a great energy about the Pot and the setting is beautiful in an under appreciated corner of the country. Its good to see the Cuilcagh Lakelands now being promoted on both sides of the border – there’s lots to see up here that’s off the beaten track and is as good as anywhere in the country but without the mass tourism. Also well worth a visit is the Stairway to Heaven walkway up Cuilcagh Mountain.
