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Skulls, Bulls and Hags: Beara Peninsula Weekend
A lonely battered bush clinging to an ancient field wall beside Ardgroom Stone Circle
The Beara peninsula is a rocky sliver of mountainous land jutting out into the Atlantic, battered by wind, sea and rain the whole year round. Divided between the counties of Cork and Kerry, the peninsula is aptly named after the Cailleach Beara, the mythological hag/witch/goddess who turns up across the country as the maker of mountains and cairns, rivers and meadows. The Beara peninsula is the perfect home for the Cailleach Beara, everything is craggy and ancient with few flat areas among the mountians, valleys and lakes. From her apron stones fall down and form the ancient cairns and mountains and her hammer strike creates meadows and rivers.
She's been busy down here and has left plenty of material for bronze age builders to create some of the finest stone circles in Ireland. Drombohilly, Ardgroom, Uragh and Dromroe are all perfect and unique, contrasting constructions and settings and essential places for anyone wanting to get a feel for the place. Visiting just one or two places won't do it justice. Spend a weekend and see as much as you can.
It's one of my favourite places in the country, cappuccinos and bagels have not yet infected the peninsula and despite the odd bungalow popping up in ludicrous places it still feels wild, unlike places like Connemara where the bungalows breed like rabbits.
Such fine weather as we had on the Bank Holiday has its downside, cloudless skies usually make dull photos with no mood and sunset/sunrise come and go with weak colours. Nervertheless, in the sticky heat I made the long drive down to Kerry to see what sunset would bring at Ardgroom Stone Circle.
There's no better place to sit and watch the sun go down than at Ardgroom Outward, the low sun raking the old walls and rushes, wildlife springing out of every bush, the hazy mountains across the Kenmare Estuary and of course the spectacular stone circle with its own viewing platform above. Even without the low heavy clouds that make sunsets burn red and gold it was worth the traffic jams and warm fizzy drinks.
Getting accomodation on a Bank Holiday weekend in West Cork/Kerry is no easy task, getting somewhere that will accomodate a person travelling alone is near impossible. The lovely B&B I managed to persuade was near Ardgroom village, 5km still constitutes 'near' in Cork. This meant foregoing the pint of black stuff and just to top it off I was chased back into the packed pub from my quiet roadside bench, unable to finish my sparkling water, by the swarm of midges that have been following me around for the past three years.
I set the alarm for 5am in the hope of catching a decent sunrise at Drombohilly but a quick peek out the window at the cloudless sky allowed me to go back to bed safe that I wouldn't be missing anything worth carting my carcass out at that ungodly hour.
So, four hours and a fried breakfast later I made my way across the backbone of the Beara hills to visit Derreentaggert
Much easier to find than I expected, it is well signposted from the centre of Castletownbere. Clearly a monument of local importance, it has very easy access and plenty of field space to allow you to stand back and consider how impressive it once must have been in its complete state. It would seem that destroying either one or both of the portals of these stone circles was sufficient to see off the pagan spectre and plenty of the stone circles in this part of the country have a buck-toothed appearance as a result.
Somehow this only adds to this site, the remaining stones couldn't possibly appear more defiant and proud, this is one of those circles which seems to have a personality ot itself, apart from the human effort put into making and breaking it. A great site. This is a very impressive stone, it stands on a knoll with views over the coast but inland it is surrounded on all sides by hills and mountains.
Clearly visible from the road as you drive down the hill into the harbour, it was surely a beacon for ancient mariners, given the sheer number of ancient remains in the area it possibly marks one of the busiest places for trade and rest along the coast.
Its worth knowing before visiting that you will be greeted on arrival by the people who own the land and for a €2 coin you will be given the nod and a badly printed sheet of info taken directly from the stonepages website.
This is a worrying trend in the locality, some landowners leave a donation box for you to exchange courtesies with a small contribution and there are few places that aren't worth parting with a euro or two to visit if your getting signageand a decent trackway. Charging people up front though does leave you feeling ripped off when there is no service or added value being offered to the traveller.
It stands 5.3m tall and though it is clearly quite ancient it looks surprisingly modern, its shape and colour brings to mind the stones of Callanish and its weather beaten location with fine views of the harbour takes some beating.
The ogham insciption is fairly worn and very high up on the stone, it was also in the shade on my visit so did not come out in any photographs.
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The owners of last night's B&B seemed to know quite a few ancient sites in the area and recommended a visit to Ballycrovane Ogham Stone, with the warning that the landowner was charging a euro entry which did not go down well at all with some German tourists that had stayed at the B&B a few months before.
Driving down the windy road towards the natural harbour it soon became apparent that charge or no charge this stone had to be seen up close. Even when hillocks block the view, the cranium of this magnificent stone stays in view. This must have been the megalithic equivalent of the Statue of Liberty, greeting weary travellers coming from land or sea.
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Make no mistake, if you want to see this stone at close quaters, your not going to do it on your own terms:
Outside the house past which you have to cross to get to Ballycrovane Ogham Stone
This is a view of the stone similar to the B&W but the coast and sea is easier to make out in colour:
Ballycrovane Ogham Stone, Beara Peninsula
With two new sites under the belt today it was definiteley time to re-visit a favourite, the circle of Drombohilly was just as good as I remembered as were the views and the trek from the road was slightly better than in October. The tree plantation that will obscure the fine views west in years to come has not grown much thankfully, the circle itself was much easier to see in the midday sun from the road also. Its a shame that this will not be possible once the small but strategically placed plantation matures.
Only two streams to cross today, the ordeal in getting to this circle surely adds to its appeal!
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Back in the car again and its time to get some nourishment and plan the next sites to hit, after some contemplation I decide it's probably better to leave some stones unturned and save the next few sites on my itinerary for a future visit. The pull of the little brown roadsigns was too much though, passing the turn off for Shronebirrane I did a quick manouvere and was soon driving down one of the most spectacular valleys anywhere in Ireland. Keeping my eyes peeled for the circle I eventually spotted it deep in the belly of valley, smaller than I had imagined and trying to inch its way away from the house built in its space.
This is a nice, if battered, stone circle. It is not a great stone circle however and hardly likely to cause awe in the casual visitor. Why then, when surrounded by some dramatic and downright jaw-dropping circles so nearby, are those with whetted appetites asked to fork out €2 to spend some time trying to figure out which end is up at Shronebirrane? No getting past it though and despite my indignant and incredulous look I had to hand over the cash to gain entry and a photocopied sheet with one of those B&W pics that is really just a square of blobs, if you stare long enough you might see the face of Jesus Christ or Juda Priest.
If you are really flush though you can walk the mountain path for another €4.
The circle itself is reduced to an arc of disjointed limbs, cowering nervously at the bottom of the cavernous hills surrounding it. The valley setting is spectacular but any sense of wonder is completly shattered by the bungalow plonked right beside the circle.  |
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It is not known whether the alignment with this outlying Ford Fiesta is an original feature:
Shronebirrane Stone Circle and its monstrous mechanical partner
The highlight of the day was still to come. With both a map and GPS I was still not confident I would ever get to Dromroe circle, but adversity makes triumph all the more sweet and this place is irrationally joyous to find and pass the day at.
This is a beautiful circle in a wonderful location. It didn't really stand out when I browsed through TME but when I looked up some pics on Megalithomania.com I knew this would be near the top of the list for the next tour of Cork/Kerry.
I took the words of those who were here previously seriously and left myself plenty of time to get here. It's not incredibly far in terms of distance but it is a bit of a hairy journey. I could find no trace of any of the signs and walkways mentioned in TME and ended up relying on the sometimes dodgy combination of GPS and 'as the crow flies' navigation. I'm pretty sure I picked the most difficult route to get here, when I got to the circle I passed one of the Beara Way markers but looking back it seemed this track would lead me past the herd of crazy eyed bulls that loitered around the gate to the lane that would make the most direct route.
After getting mugged for €2 at both Ballycrovane and Shronebirrane I would not have been one bit surprised if the cows wanted a feckin toll to cross as well.
After falling through two hedges and over and under countless barbed wire fences, slipping into drainage trenches and getting torn on thorns I finally spotted the portal stone framed under a lovely tree. The sun was really scorching the ground when I finally sat and caught my breath against one of the old stones.
This circle is far better than in the photos, although overgrown it is wonderfully complete and the stones are perfectly chosen. It's location is probably only second to Uragh, you can survey for miles withoug seeing a single bungalow and it takes no effort to cast your mind back to when these craggy charmers were dragged to this spot.
The only thing that detracted from this place was some clever person leaving a sheep skull and a slab of stone with a hand perfectly painted in sparkly pink nail varnish on the boulder burial...
You have to wonder what goes on at some of these sites when people with too vivid imaginations gather round, its just a pity they have to leave reminders behind them:
The boulder burial in the centre of Dromroe circle makes an incongrous altar for the ancient peoples of 2006
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Sleepless in Sligo
Note: This Weblog is long, and has quite a few photos, though by the time you've read the boring bits the photos are sure to appear!
(To view larger versions of the photos in this weblog, click here and use the 'Next' button to move forward)
January has been a month of stops and starts, a few megalithic visitations snatched during the odd break in bad weather. A clear schedule and weather reports for the last weekend of the month meant a day or two to make the most of. There are a quite a few concentrated areas of the country which make for great weekends, The Burren in Clare, the rings of Cork and Kerry, the assorted wonders of the Sperrins in Tyrone, the almost foreboding monuments in Donegal etc. etc. but Sligo is surely the equivalent of Disneyworld in megalithic Ireland.
'Tomb' 9, more likely a true stone circle
Just to prove this is true, a new motorway has been built from Dublin to Mullingar, bridging almost half the journey to Carrowmore, price of admission is a €2.50 toll which I reconciled as being great value for entrance to Sligo megalitho-wonderland. Sadly, the people that build roads in Ireland are probably unaware that there are any ancient remains in Sligo, or indeed under the motorway they have just finished, but I put that to the back of my mind as I actually broke the 100km/h barrier for the first time on a trip past every backwater village from east to west Ireland.
Arriving in Carrowmore at 4pm left an hour of lovely warm sunlight to wander the motley crew of Carrowmores remains, locating the two rings Burl suggests are true free standing stone circles and spying a few more remains over the hedges. It was an un-hurried stroll, just enjoying the twilight and silent remains. A cloudless sky is unfortunate in its lack of photogenic potential so instead I fed clumps of grass to the horses in the neighboring field and waited for nightfall.
I elected to stay in Strandhill, on the other side of Knocknarea
and used the last of the light to find the middens (massive deposits of domestic waste and discarded shellfish shells from the Neolithic/Bronze/Iron ages, metres deep and long) but didn't find any I could be certain of. The inlet here is amazingly peaceful considering this is the Atlantic coast and as the sun set I took a few photos of the coast the Carrowmore builders depended on for their livelihoods.
After settling in to the 'Beach house' B&B (after a bizarre episode at what turned out to be a hostel) which had a fine view of Knocknarea from the back windows of my room, I returned to Carrowmore to try some long exposure night shots of Tomb 5. Some places are pretty creepy at night but Carrowmore seems welcoming for some odd reason. I had been expecting a cool blue glowing landscape and sky with stars streaking by but soon realised the light pollution from Sligo town and nearby hamlets would result in violent red skies and photos that look like a poster for Mission to Mars. Making the best of it I used shorter exposures than anticipated and an extreme wide angle to prevent star trails as much as possible.
Tomb 5
A quick pint of the black stuff later, I retired to bed early to make the most of the sunrise in the morning. Unfortunately I didn't notice one of the windows in the room was still open and woke at 3am with my hair almost frozen onto my head and a beach party (yes, at 3am in subzero temperatures on the west coast of Ireland. Strandhill is overrun with surfers at any time of year) in full swing. After eventually getting an hour or two sleep I got up bleary eyed at 7.20am and had a quick breakfast with the outline of Knocknarea lit by the pre-sunrise glow just a field or two away. Worth the stay over in itself.
A short drive along the silent coast brought me back to Carrowmore just as the sun was breaking the horizon over the mountains to the south east
Tomb 5
Tomb 4 (foreground) and 5 (mid-horizon)
After scouting the two 'Stone Circles' the evening before I knew they would be at their best in the morning and with the crunchy, frosty grass, golden sun and Knocknarea hazy but lit in the background it was enough to take my mind off the lack of sleep and the fact that my fingers were becoming useless in the biting cold.
Site 11
Site 9
A few clouds would have added enormously to the photos but at the time it felt perfect.
The two circles are quite large, site 11 is the largest 5 stone circle in Ireland! Although there were almost certainly more stones here it does contrast amazingly to the small 5 stoners in Cork/Kerry. Site 9 has a lovely 'fairy tree' growing in its perimeter and abundant tyre tracks all through the centre could be a hint as to why it is now made up of widely spaced but very large boulders. Some are standing upright.
After Carrowmore it was a toss-up between Magheraghanrush and Tawnatruffaun but I opted for the former as I had not been before and it looks amazing in the photos. Its not quite as straightforward as I had imagined, I thought there would be a gap in the wall that winds around the plantation but you have to clamber over the wall and locate the track that runs backwards from the direction you have come and swings into the trees. On the way I encountered a fox with a badly mangled leg dangling loose which didn't seem to hamper his mobility in any way, then a massive bird of prey with an almost pig-like grunt but by far the most exciting sight was the decayed looking court stones of this massive spectacle of a tomb appearing ahead. The notice board drawing shows how magnificent this tomb would originally have been. The stones look like crumbling biscuits, the frosty ground adding an ethereal and magical atmosphere in the shaded but generous clearing. I wandered around and took in every angle, it's a site that's very difficult to photograph so you will just have to go there yourself!
After an hour or so hunger finally got the better of me so I made my way back to the car, very soon after tiredness started taking its toll and since the cloudless skies offered no more potential for better photographs at Tawnatruffaun or The Labby Rock, I decided to make my way home. Unable to resist the scenic drive around Lough Arrow and half decided on visiting the Labby Rock anyway, I leisurely drove down the winding roads taking in the spectacular landscape.
The usual way to visit the Labby Rock (Carrickglass) is though the Cromlech Lodge, however the gates here were locked at the road side entrance. This means you have to travel south a few hundred metres and take a left, at the brow of the hill up this lane there is a farmhouse track on the left through which you can access the dolmen by following the Sligo Historical Trail signs.
On the way home I was even more glad of the new motorway but still bore a grudge for the arrogance of the extortionate tolls and mindless planning of the powers that be….
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