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County Limerick
KnockfeerinaSacred Hill
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6 posts
Buachaill Bréige Cairn(s) |
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Knockfeerina Wedge Tomb |
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Using an OS map it is easy to see that a long bye-road goes up most of the way up the hill. The road is pretty bad and there a number of gates on it as it is a farm track. Depending on the weather, if it is wet best to park before the first gate as there is no real alloted parking. Follow the track up the hill, the soil in the area seems to be an orangey/red. Views from the top of the hill are amazing looking all over limerick, south-tipp and down into kerry (I think). I could pick out my own hill tountinna in north tipp here. The cross and the tv masts however really take from the hill and the cairn on top is pretty disappointing. However the mythology attached to the hill and the views more than makes up for it. |
Posted by bawn794th January 2006ce |
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"Knock Firinn is called by the people of the country 'Knock Dhoinn Firinne,' the mountain of Don of Truth. This mountain is very high, and may be seen for several miles round; and when people are desirous to know whether or not any day will rain, they look at the top of Knock Firinn, and if they see a vapour or mist there, they immediately conclude that rain will soon follow; believing that Donn of that mountain and his aerial assistants are collecting the clouds, and that he holds them there for some short time, to warn the people of the approaching rain. As the appearance of mist on the mountain in the morning is considered an infallible sign that that day will be rainy, Donn is called 'Donn Firinne,' Donn of Truth."In 'Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland' by Thomas Crofton Croker (1828). |
Posted by Rhiannon8th April 2009ce |
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A cautionary tale, summarised by me from 'Fairy Legends and Traditions' by Thomas Crofton Croker [1825]. The original longer version is at http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/flat/flat02.htm There was once a strapping young fellow called Carroll O'Daly, who was known in his homeland of Connaught as 'Devil Daly'. Wherever he went, he liked to show people how fearless and unsuperstitious he was. One evening he was travelling through Limerick, and began to ride along the road with a respectable looking farmer on a white pony. After a while, Carroll asked the man how far he was going, as it was starting to get dark. "Not far your way," was the reply, "I'm only going to the top of this hill here." "At this time of night?" "Well actually I'm going to see the Good People." "Oh!" said O'Daly. "The fairies, you mean." "Shh! Don't say things like that - or you may be sorry for it!" said his fellow-traveller, and he turned off onto a path up the mountain. Carroll was not convinced. A man like that going after little fairies? It must be more interesting. And even if it was true - what was there to be afraid of? He was sure he could take on a dozen of them - no, two dozen at least. He looked up at the mountain and set off after the sillouette of the farmer. It was trickier than he'd imagined. After three hours of scrambling up the rugged and sometimes swampy path, he reached the top of the mountain, where the farmer's horse was grazing. Next to the horse was the mouth of a pit, and he remembered childhood stories about the "Poul-duve," or Black Hole of Knockfierna - how it was the entrance to the fairy castle within the mountain, and how a surveyor had once attempted to fathom it with a line, but had been dragged down into it and never seen again. But he shook off these old wives' tales - why shouldn't he just bang on the door and see if the fairies were in, considering he'd come all this way? He seized a stone bigger than his two hands and flung it with all his strength down into the Poul-duve of Knockfierna. He could hear it ricocheting down with a terrible noise. He leaned over so he could hear when it hit the bottom, when SMACK!! the very same stone came hurtling up at him and gave him such a blow in the face that he fell tumbling down the mountain, bouncing from one crag to another. Next morning O'Daly was found lying on the road, his nose broken and his head all cut up, and his eyes closed with the bruises. After that he never rode alone near the haunts of the fairies after dusk, nor sought any information from people who kept the good people's company. |
Posted by Rhiannon 19th June 2006ce Edited 19th June 2006ce |
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Taken from Sacred Ireland by Cary Meehan "is traditionally known as the 'Hill of Truth'. It is said to personify Donn Fírinne, the Celtic God of death and fertility. In folklore he is seen as a giant or the Fairy King. He is said to live at the bottom of a deep hole in the hillside called 'Poll na Bruinne' and anyone trying to investigate this entrance to the Otherworld will not come away unscathed and may even be drawn in, never to be seen again. There are many cautionary tales to deter the curious. However, good custodians are rewarded. One local farmer was granted temporary entrance to Donn's world under the hill where he met with a brother and sister, both of whom had died many years before. Donn is closely associated with weather omens. He is said to collect the clouds on his hill and hold them there for a while to warn of approaching rain. Sometimes he is said to be in the clouds if the weather is particularly bad. He is also said to be flying abroad when someone dies. There is a cairn on the top of Knockfeerina called 'Buachaill Bréige', meaning 'the false or lying boy' and it was the custom, and indeed the duty, of local people, to carry a stone up the hill to put on this cairn once a year. The hilltop has traditionally been a popular Lughnasa assembly site visited at harvest-time, and at this time freshly picked berries and flowers were strewn around the cairn as offerings for the hill's fairy inhabitants. On the eves of the festivals of Bealtaine and Samhain, young girls used to leave gifts high up on the side of the hill below the western ridge called 'the Stricken'. Like the hills to the east, Knockfeerina is also associated with the adventures of the Fianna. On the Stricken is a large ring-fort called 'Lios na bhFian' or 'Fort of the Fianna'. One such adventure is named after the 'Palace of the Quicken Trees' where the Fianna become the victims of an act of revenge after being lured to a feast in an imaginary palace. A little wary of the invitation, Fionn had left his son Oisin and a number of the Fianna behind. And sure enough, while they waited for the food to arrive, the fire began to send out black clouds of evil-smelling smoke. The palace around them disappeared and they found themselves sitting on the hillside and fixed to the ground, unable to rise. Fionn put his thumb to his month, which he did when he wanted to see to the heart of things, and found that the spell that held them had been cast by the three kings of the Island of Torrent. These kings where marching on the palace to kill them and only the blood of these three kings could undo the spell. When Oísín and the other Fianna came to see if they were alright, Fionn warned them not to come in. He explained what they must do to stop the kings. Evenutally the Fianna managed to intercept and then kill the three kings. They took their heads and sprinkled the blood around their companions. Thus the spell was broken. Issues of revenge and death are common in Fianna stories. This particular story also illustrated the dark side of Knockfeerina and its reflection in the human psyche. On a lighter note, folk tradition has it that Donn and his followers fought battles on behalf of the countryside. They might take the form of a cross-country hurling match against the fairy people of Knockainy. The winner would take the best of the potato crop to their side of the county" |
Posted by bawn79 4th January 2006ce Edited 4th January 2006ce |
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This ogham stone was seemingly originally on Knockfierna at one stage. http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/11616#post-71482 |
Posted by bawn79 2nd December 2008ce |
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Aerial photo of KnockfiernaLast time i looked, Knockfierna wasnt on Google Earth so this Aerial photo may be of use. Link doesnt seem so to get to the photo, click the menu for photos. |
Posted by bawn79 29th July 2008ce Edited 11th September 2008ce |
Latest posts for Knockfeerina |
Showing 1-10 of 12 posts. Most recent first | Next 10 
Buachaill Bréige (Cairn(s)) — Links |
Old photo of the cairn on KnockfeerinaLooks very similar to cairns on Paps of Anu |
Posted by bawn79 5th April 2009ce |
Knockfeerina (Wedge Tomb) — Links |
Link to old photographOld photo of the wedge tomb |
Posted by bawn79 29th July 2008ce |
Knockfeerina (Wedge Tomb) — Fieldnotes |
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I never got to see this tomb the last time I went to Knockfeerina. This time i got here just as the sun was beginning to go down and although it was a beautiful time of the evening it wasn't great for photography with my camera. To get there, take the track leading up to Knockfeerina and where it branches off at the bottom of the hill take the left branch. Follow this until it ends and you should be able to see the tomb away in the distance to your left over one ditch. The tomb itself is big, I measured it roughly 11m long by about 2m wide. It is aligned East-West with the east end pointing towards a rock outcrop. |
Posted by bawn79 2nd January 2007ce |
Knockfeerina (Wedge Tomb) — Images (click to view fullsize) |
   
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Posted by bawn79 2nd January 2007ce |
Buachaill Bréige (Cairn(s)) — Fieldnotes |
| This cairn is in poor repair and not very impressive. Its on average about 2-3m high. Diameter of very approx 15-20m. |
Posted by bawn79 4th January 2006ce |
Buachaill Bréige (Cairn(s)) — Images |
 
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Posted by bawn79 4th January 2006ce |
Showing 1-10 of 12 posts. Most recent first | Next 10
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