Rothar Routes

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

Posts tagged ‘Ballymurphy’

Taking the Long Way Around

There’s more than 60,000 unique Townlands in Ireland, that stretch back to the Middle Ages or before. They remain the basis of rural addresses and provide a sense of identity. No where else in Europe has preserved their place names. Loyalty to the home place is so strong in Ireland, stretching back thousands of years – look at the rivalries between the tiniest of clubs! Most of these names were originally in our native tongue but were transposed into English after the Act of Union. Here’s the names of some of the Townlands I cycled through yesterday:

The Irish version of the names usually provides a clue as to the location – many names will include the likes of ‘Carraig’, Dún’, ‘Rath’ etc.

The Long Way Around

South Carlow is an area of outstanding natural beauty, it doesn’t attract big numbers of tourists but those that do stray in tend to like what they see and return again! I met a surprisingly big family group in Rathanna, probably staying in Osbornes Storehouse. The route I took is mainly in local roads with a few stretches of rough lanes and with plenty of hills – over 850 metres of climbing in 55kms. I must have crossed the disused route of the old railway line from Bagenalstown to Palas East four or five times; there are some beautiful bridges and it’s lovely to see the old station house at Ballyling beautifully refurbished since I last took a photo of it.

An area of outstanding natural beauty, bordered by the River Barrow on the West and the Blackstairs Mountains on the East. There are numerous heritage sites all over south Carlow with many great examples of rock art, which I’ve covered previously. Today was about fresh air and exercise – even if it was assisted…

River at Rosdelllig

I presume this warning is an old sign associated with the railway line. Saw this near Dranagh.

Stay in Your County!!

Hard to capture it all!

I struggle with the logic of travel within your own county given the disparity in sizes between the smallest and the largest but at least it gives us a little more freedom! Today after months of 5kms restrictions today was the first day to seek out new horizons and to get out into the south!

What a joyful 30kms cycle in the Deep south of Ceatharlach! We really have a beautiful little county and we don’t even know it too well ourselves.

Has to be Pat Hickeys house!

If you want to spend an afternoon or a day away from crowds, in splendid isolation, look no further than Rathanna as your base. I always approach it coming from Killoughternane side and the view that hits you as you round the bend at Tomduff matches anything in Ireland. It compares favourably with the views across to the Three Sisters from Slea Head in my books. Its a patchwork of 40 shades of green underneath the heathered slopes of The Blackstairs Mountain Range.

Moove over Mary!

Its always nice to know the local place names; each county has its own unique landscape and the descriptions are often in the place names. Irish place names are so poetic – Ballyglisheen, Rathgeran, Slievedurda, Rosdellig, Rathanna, Ballymurphy, Knockymulgurry, Knock, Gowlin…

Knockroe in the background

Traffic free narrow lanes make this route a smashing cycle route with a nice bit of climbs along the way to keep you honest… nothing major but a few nice pulls. And did I mention the scenery? Ah my God…

Traffic free laneways – just keep an eye out for the farm animals!

Or the hurlers? Down every by road are the famed Rangers and St Mullins camán wielders, territories marked out by red and black or green and white flags.. there must be great banter here around County Final time…

The more I cycle the more convinced I am that instead of investing millions in greenways, we should concentrate instead on creating dedicated cycle routes using the extensive local road network that links our isolated villages and parishes. It would cost an awful lot less and would not entail further damage to our biodiversity or result in the creation of more hard surfaces than we need.

Not a drop of milk in any of them…
Roads full of promise
And the Lamb did follow her!
Gowlin

Video link https://youtu.be/T4wmF1syKJQ

Carlow’s ‘Boyne Valley’ Revisited!

I love getting a Saturday afternoon to explore a bit of our historic and fascinating county. Today I went down South – again to the Rathanna, Ballymurphy area.

A phone call from Eamon Coleman a couple of months ago to tell me that he had cleared a path to the ancient rock art and holy water wells that are situated on his land had me planning to head down when football commitments allowed.

First port of call was Killoughternane

This single cell Church was built in the 5th Century by St Fortchern. There is a well across the road that has a really interesting history. It was forgotten about until 1880 when the land owner found a bottle with a message inside, written in a foreign language which when translated contained directions to the well! It must have attracted visitors from continental Europe at some point. This obviously created great excitement and the Well became a pilgrimage site with may cures attributed.

Subsequently a lady was cleaning out the well when she unearthed a mud encrusted item from the bottom of the well. It turned out to be a Chalice and Paten – probably hidden in penal times. The Chalice is now in St Andrews Church, Bagenalstown.

 

Headed over to Tinnecarrig Ballymurphy then to meet Eamon Coleman and view the rock art that is well hidden from view in an ancient overgrown graveyard on his land.

Its hard to make out the cups on this stone but if you look carefully you can see many deep cups peppered all over the surface. What did they signify? Who knows at this stage but its great see that rock art many thousands of years old is still present across the county.

Indeed you could say that this area is the Boyne Valley of the South as there are numerous examples close to the foothills of the Blackstairs!

One of the Holy Wells well hidden from view.

Holy wells or water fonts….

Time to head home but a short dash across to Rathgeran and Carlow’s finest example of rock art beckoned.

There are many more ancient heritage sites in this small area of the County – I often think we undersell what we have to offer…

 

Rathgeran