Ah, childhood memories... (despite being a national monument, the Hill of Uisneach was where farming realations of mine used to graze their cattle.) When I was a kid, long before I knew anything about history, I remember standing on the summit, absolutely gobsmacked by the view. On a clear day you can see landmarks in twenty counties, and many of the locals will claim to have seen the gleaming white Round Tower over O'Connell's grave in Dublin's Glasnevin cemetary. This is a nice link to the past as one of O'Connell's monster meetings for Catholic Emancipation was held at Uisneach (the remnants of an iron flagstaff are still embedded in the catstone).
The idea that the souterrains represent in plan form the stallions of the dagda, I'm inclined to take with a pinch of salt as one of Michael Dame's more dubious ideas.
For fellow holy well afficionado's, St. Bridget's well at nearby Killare Village is a perfect, barely christianised remnant of the sacred landscape.
I visited the sacred omphalos of Uisneach in 2007...considering the fame of the place as the navel of Ireland...the plaque announcing it's presence in the area was typically discreet. At the side of the main road was a footpath and gate with huge 'Beware of the Bulls' 'Do not enter' and 'No Trespass' signs...but me being me...I just had to take a trip up the field to at least find the Catstone...so shoot me!
The Hill of Uisneach, I have to admit was a little confusing...as there was never a sense of actually cresting the hill...try as we did to get to the top before anyone spotting us! As we took photos near the Catstone..I spotted the landowner in a field down yonder, making his way to his jeep, keeping a keen eye on his quarry...us!! We just made it out of the field as he reached us on the road...with our best innocent looks on our faces.
I can safely say that to ensure a nice relaxed trip up here...one should try harder than I did to identify the landowner and beg for his permission to tread this site...the locals I asked just said 'Sure you'll be fine...work away'...I would be interested to find out if anyone has visited there since, and what their experience was!?!
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Posted by stonemad
Posted by bawn79
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