Rothar Routes

Cycle routes & pilgrim journeys in Ireland and Europe …..

Archive for ‘February, 2025’

The Cycle of the Seven Wonders

I promised myself, when I visited the Seven Wonders of Fore, almost a year ago to the day, that I’d return with my bike to further explore this ancient land full of mystery. This morning was sharp, good and dry, not too cold – ideal or the bike. These are the places I love to visit and I knew today would be special; I was embarking on a journey through time, from the Legendary Seven Wonders of Fore to the ancient hilltop cairns of Loughcrew and then on towards Lough Sheelin in Cavan.

Fore is nestled between two beautiful hills, the Ben of Fore to the north east and Carrick Balor (Of the Evil Eye) in the south west. I pedalled past ‘The Water that runs Uphill’, surely an optical illusion – or is it magic! It was then over the ‘Water which will not boil’ as I headed into the grounds of the Monastery Built in a Bog – still standing defiant against the marshy land beneath! A magical lands for sure!

I left Fore behind and took to the winding roads, leaving thoughts of the mysterious Wonders behind as I headed the relatively short trip into County Meath and one of it’s most important sites in the Boyne Valley region at Loughcrew. This corner of Westmeath and Meath has a feel of Ulster about it, with beautifully striking drumlins to struggle up and to speed down. Big grassy knobs full of sheep nestled above numerous little lakes, hardly known outside the locality. Lough Bane (Lough Ban – White Lake), is a long sliver of water with beautiful views on both sides.

Map courtesy of http://www.discoverboynevalley.ie

The climb to Loughcrew is steep on a bike and today I was having deraileur problems, which didn’t help. I managed to sort it when I got to the entrance to the site. I didn’t go in today as I couldn’t leave the bike unattended and the walk to the top and back takes a good 40 minutes. I’ve been here before and the sight at the summit is spectacular and the Cairns, older than the Great Pyramids of Egypt, stand as guardians of time, the chambers holding the secret’s of Ireland’s first people. The Loughcrew Cairns are a group of 30 passage tombs, comprising one of the most important prehistoric cemeteries in Ireland, dating from 3200BC and feature some of Europe’s finest megalithic carved stone art.

Rock Art at Loughcrew

I took these photos at Loughcrew on my last visit in September 2020.

It was downhill towards Lough Sheelin then and what I thought was County Cavan, but there is a narrow sliver of County Meath that juts into the lake and I did not actually set foot in Cavan! I paused and took in the view, realising today’s journey hadn’t just been one of kilometres cycled but a journey through time. From the mystical wonders of Fore to the ancient spirits of Loughcrew and the quiet beauty of Lough Sheelin, a cycle through the soul of Ireland. In the whispers of the stones and water, stories of the past rode with me as I turned for home.

QR code for my Route Map

Sawel Mountain – County High Point Challenge

Saint Brigid gave us another Bank Holiday and I used it to head north to add another mountain top to my goal of completing the 32 Counties high Point Challenge and also to attend great coaching workshop in Coalisland on the way home. Two birds killed with the one stone so to speak!

Sawel, at 665 metres, is the highest point in counties Tyrone and Derry. It’s situated in the heart of the remote and beautiful Sperrin Mountains.

It’s a long long drive from Carlow – 300kms approximately but there was no rush and I enjoyed the drive up, especially driving through the Sperrins to get to the start point, which is on the Sperrin Road; a thin strip of black tarmac splitting the mountain range in two as it winds up and down over rises and falls of the approach. Looking out the window of the car lulled me into a false sense of confidence; all seemed calm, until I pulled into my parking spot near a cattle grid. ‘Twas then I realised the winds outside were blowing up a storm! The car was buffeted from side to side and I decided to face the car head on into the wind to lessen the effect. Wind speeds yesterday were 60kms/h with gusts up to 72km/h!

While it was cloudy overhead, visibility was good and it was mild when starting out. That didn’t last long and mist covered the mountain, turning to rain. Ground conditions were awful and I seriously considered abandoning the walk, but given the distance I had travelled and the fact that I could follow a fence all the way to the summit I decided to go ahead and complete it with caution. I had brought with hiking poles and they were a godsend.

It’s an easy route to navigate and impossible to get lost once you stick to the fence, which has to be crossed a few times over stiles. Underfoot the ground was soaked and at various points I was ankle deep in black treacle, trying to suck the boots off me!

The winds were increasing in speed as I ascended and made it extremely difficult to progress forward in. What looked on paper like an easy one to notch up, it was anything but. As a result it took much longer than it should have and I knew the challenge going down would be worse as the ground was like a bar of soap. Sure enough I had a few tumbles, one was particularly bad in which I hyper extended my knee as my leg went underneath me as I fell backwards. I took a moment to regain my composure but thankfully I was slowly able to pick a path down without any further incidents. No serious damage done.

It was unfortunate how the weather turned out as the views when I started were so nice and I had hoped to take in the panoramic views at the top. Unfortunately it was hard enough to even spot the summit cairn! It’s a boggy route at this time of year and I probably should have left this until summer time but given I was going to Coalisland I decided to bag it right away! As it wasn’t a Bank Holiday up north, there was no one else on the mountain.

That’s High Points 22 and 23 completed. 9 more to do, 2 of them are shared so 8 in effect. Will get a few more during the year but unlikely to complete it all in 2025!

Today showed how dangerous mountain tops can be and the importance of assessing the conditions, proper gear (need new boots) and navigation. 665 metres may not seem very high but weather at this elevation is completely different than when at the base of the climb. The out and back distance is only 5.5kms but even that is a challenge in those conditions.