Rothar Routes

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

Posts tagged ‘Mount Melleray’

10 Hidden Gems, hiding in Plain Sight..

As the morning mists lifts over our beautiful country bóthríns, the rolling of my tyres is the only sound I hear. This is bike touring – intimate, unhurried and endlessly rewarding. You see every road has a destination, some are hiding in plain sight.. here are 10 that brought me quiet satisfaction when I visited them during 2024:

1 Fourknocks Passage Tomb

15 kms south of Newgrange is the much lesser known Fourknocks Passage Tomb. Keys are available from a neighbouring house and you can explore this fabulous 5,000 year old tomb all on your own. Off the beaten track and all the more impressive for it.

2. The Seven Wonders of Fore

The Seven Wonders of Fore include the monastery in the bog, the water that flows uphill, the tree that won’t burn, the water that won’t boil, the anchorite in a stone, the mill without a race and the lintel raised by St Feichin’s prayers! This is a magical place in County Westmeath with a lovely 4kms walk to visit all the sites. Check it out!

3. Meelick Weir Crossing of the Shannon

The weir was damaged in severe storms in 2009 and again in 2015/2016, when the walkway was also damaged and was subsequently closed and is now reopened. It links the historic village of Meelick in east Galway to Lusmagh in west Offaly and forms part of the Hymany Way and the Beara-Breifne Way walking trails.  It’s a unique spot – the three provinces of Leinster, Connacht and Munster meet right here. Lots of interesting historical sites on both sides of the Shannon here.

4. The Shannon Pot

The Shannon, Ireland’s largest river, at a magnificent 360kms, literally 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.

5. Clonfert Cathedral

I stumbled on a unique burial tradition here in Clonfert, where graves are lined with chicken wire and branches of laurel are woven into the wire to provide a beautiful resting place for the deceased. I was delighted to see this being done while I was being regaled with the true tale of the incredible 9 legged cycle! Anthony Flanagan lost his leg many years ago in a combine harvester accident. He didn’t allow it define him or inhibit him and he undertook an incredible charity cycle a couple of years ago along with 4 others. With just ONE LEG he completed a 420km cycle IN 24 HOURS for some local causes. The following year they cycled to Croagh Patrick AND HE CLIMBED IT! I came out of Clonfert graveyard with my head spinning, full of amazement at the spirit of Anthony and his absolute determination to get on with life regardless of the cruel hand he was dealt. St Brendan the Navigator founded his monastery here and it became a great seat of learning with over 3,000 monks here in its heyday.

6. Presley Ancestral Grave

It’s hard to reconcile the glitzy image of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll with this peaceful corner of Wicklow, but perhaps that’s the magic of it. As I stood there, the connection between past and present felt palpable. There’s a QR code on a sign at the entrance to the graveyard, which gives a detailed account of the Presley connection. Nearby Hacketstown also claims to be the birthplace of the Presley ancestors. There are court reports from the 1870s of a savage beating William Presley received on land he rented in Hacketstown, possibly by the ‘Whiteboys’, a secret agrarian society which defended tenant farmers land rights… I don’t think Elvis was singing the ‘Green Green Grass of Home’ in honour of the old sod!

7. Mount Melleray Monastery

Sad to say, but since I visited Mount Melleray over the Summer, news has broken of its imminent closure. It’s a Cistercian Abbey located in the Knockmealdown Mountains. The Abbey was founded on 30 May 1832 by a colony of Irish and English monks, expelled from the abbey of Melleray after the French Revolution of 1830, and who had come to Ireland under the leadership of Fr. Vincent de Paul Ryan. It was called Mount Melleray in memory of the motherhouse. I had a great chat there with Father Denis Luke, Prior of the Abbey, about cycling and the Camino, a really nice man who had a kind word for everyone. Soon there will be no one to greet visitors. Another loss…

8. Baunreagh 1798 Camp Field

I finally saw the sign for the 1798 Camp Field, where Father Murphy and the Wexford Rebels were camped out during the 1798 rising. What an epic march they made from Vinegar Hill, then were betrayed and badly beaten at the Battle of Kilcumney, got up as far as Castlecomer and forced back down country before he met his dreadful end at the hands of the Yeomen in Tullow, where he was  stripped, flogged, hanged, decapitated, his corpse burnt in a barrel of tar and his head impaled on a spike in the Main Square. Hard to forget or forgive those terrible deeds.

9. W.B. Yeats Grave

The village of Drumcliffe, County Sligo is famous for being the final resting place of W.B.Yeats, whose grave is in the churchyard under this simple headstone. Yeats died in 1939 in a hotel in the south of France. He was buried in a pauper’s grace in the village of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, close to Monaco. His body was returned to Ireland in 1948 and buried in Drumcliffe. The release of State Papers this week express serious doubts over the identity of the ‘Yeats bones’ .

10 Mullaghgarve Mass Rock, Sliabh an Iarainn

Mass Rocks were rocks used as altars during the Penal Laws in the 1700s and were usually located in out of the way locations. This one is perfectly hidden from view behind a tall pinnacle, on the side of Sliabh an Iarainn, County Leitrim and is quite difficult to find. Once you turn at the pinnacle there is a short little section of roughly cut steps that take you to this unique mass rock. It’s perfectly secluded and with watch outs on duty the priest and his flock could safely celebrate mass without fear of the redcoats or peelers surprising them.

Wandering in Waterford

We were just talking in the family WhatsApp group about how understated County Waterford is – such a beautiful county with a fantastic coastline, mountains and interesting towns and villages.

One of my favourite cycle routes is an out and back jaunt. Parking at Horsewood GAA Club in Wexford, I cycle down by Dunbrody Abbey, over the hill into Ballyhack where I catch the Ferry to Passage East and journey on to Dunmore East. The ferry adds a bit of exotic to a bike trip and there’s always something exciting about getting on board! The route is deceptively hilly with fantastic coastal views and the great Hook Head Lighthouse off to the south.

I take a turn off the Passage – Dunmore road at Woodside beach onto a cul de sac which ends with a short and very narrow walking trail that connects with a local road on the Dunmore side of the headland, named on some maps as “the Black Woman’s Road”; I suspect its a mistranslation of possible Beann Gorm… cycling across the path is an experience as the branches of brambles and gorse bushes wallop your face!

Last week I wandered through the Iveagh Gardens where a gate between the National Museum for Literature and the Gardens bears a plaque with a quote from Maeve Binchey, so it was a coincidence that we ended up in Dunmore East this weekend, a place also associated with the writer, being the location of some scenes in the film of her book ‘Echoes’. We need to be better prepared – the sun was shining and we should have brought swimming gear with us!

Waterford is not too far away and there’s a lot more of it I want to explore so I took another trip on Sunday, this time parking up outside Cappoquinn Affane GAA Club! I’m trying to get miles and hills into the legs as I’ve big cycle coming up in Spain – Camino del Cid at the end of May and today was just perfect. I had only a rough idea of a route and I was delighted with how it worked out. The main road from Cappoquinn to Lismore is extremely busy but thankfully there’s a local road that is part of the beautiful St. Declans Way that I was able to take and avoid the dangerous main road.

St Declan’s Way is a 115km walking route linking the ancient ecclesiastical centres of Ardmore in County Waterford and Cashel in Tipperary passing through the Knockmealdown Mountains and the undulating farmland of south Tipperary and west Waterford. It has become very popular thanks to the efforts of travel book writer,John G O Dwyer .

St Declan’s Way Walk utilises the route of several ancient and medieval pilgrimage and trading routes such as the Rian Bo Phadraig (Track of St. Patrick’s Cow), Bothar na Naomh (Road of the Saints), Casan na Naomh (Path of the Saints) and St. Declan’s Road.

St Declan was a fifth century saint who brought Christianity to the southern part of Ireland and he is particularly associated with the Deise people. He established his monastery in Ardmore and his grave there remains an important place of pilgrimage. Cashel was the seat of the Kings of Munster and St. Declan’s Way follows the route he would have taken from Ardmore to Cashel.

Art deco Handball Alley in Lismore!

Lismore is a really beautiful historic town with a stunning castle over looking the famed River Blackwater. It’s a real West Waterford gem that I haven’t been in too often but I’ll be back as its great base to explore the Knockmealdown Mountains from.

Having stumbled on St Declans Way, I decided I would follow the path back up into the mountains. It’s a steep route out of Lismore but with beautiful views to distract from the effort involved. It wasn’t too long before I caught sight of impressive Mount Melleray Abbey up ahead in the distance.

Mount Melleray is a Cistercian Abbey located in the Knockmealdown Mountains. I was delighted to see a sign for a café where I had a very welcome snack! The Abbey was founded on 30 May 1832 by a colony of Irish and English monks, expelled from the abbey of Melleray after the French Revolution of 1830, and who had come to Ireland under the leadership of Fr. Vincent de Paul Ryan. It was called Mount Melleray in memory of the motherhouse. I had a great chat there with Father Denis Luke, Prior of the Abbey, about cycling and the Camino, a really nice man who had a kind word for everyone.

I left the Abbey and headed uphill again in the direction of Newcastle, County Tipperary but I turned off onto what has to be the roughest and steepest road in Ireland! It was a little local road, that has obviously fallen into disuse, along the side of Knockanask and Knocknascullogue which then linked me onto another loop which gave me a great downhill all the way back to Cappoquinn. A superb route with lots more to see in that area on future cycles.