Slieve Gullion

Infobox Mountain
Name = Slieve Gullion
Elevation = 573 m (1,880 ft)
Location = Armagh, Northern Ireland
Photo=Slieve Gullion.jpg
Caption=Slieve Gullion from Aughanduff
Range = Cooley Mountains
Grid_ref_Ireland=J024201
Listing = Marilyn

Slieve Gullion (Irish: "Sliabh Cuilinn") is an extinct volcano in the south of County Armagh in Northern Ireland. The Mountain forms the core of the Ring of Gullion and stands as the highest point in the county with an elevation of 573 metres. Slieve Gullion plays a prominent role in the mythology and history of the area surrounding it and dominates the countryside around it, offering views of as far away as Connacht and Dublin Bay in favorable weather conditions.

Features

Slieve Gullion is an extinct volcano with a crater lake, known as the 'Lake of Sorrows' or 'the Calliag Bheara's lake' and the mountain is the centre of a ring dyke. Slieve Gullion has been shaped by glaciation and exhibits a classic 'crag and tail' glacial feature. The 'tail', composed of glacial deposits, points south, ending at Drumintee.

Two cairns exist on top of the mountain on either side of the lake - the Northern one is a circular mound of stones approprimatley 40 feet in diameter whilst the Southern one is a large, well preserved passage grave which is the highest yet discovered in Ireland. [ [http://www.mythicalireland.com/other/slievegullion.php] ]

Much of the surface of Slieve Gullion is covered with forest, heather, or raw stone while an amount of 612 hectares of dry heath on the mountain have been designated a Special Area of Conservation, [ [http://www.jncc.gov.uk/protectedsites/SACselection/sac.asp?EUCode=UK0030277 Slieve Gullion Special Area of Conservation] ] an Environmentally Sensitive Area, [ [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/sr/sr1997/Nisr_19970298_en_1.htm Environmentally Sensitive Areas (Slieve Gullion) Designation (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 1997] ] and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In July 2006, some areas of gorse was destroyed by a wildfire which may have been started deliberately. [ [http://www.firefightingnews.com/article-UK.cfm?articleID=13942 Arsonists Strike 2,500 Times In Ulster In Last Three Years] ]

Traces of fields on the mountain's poor soil from farming in earlier times can still be seen as well as evidence of quarrying. Today Slieve Gullion is used for little economic production but is popular with visitors and trekers with scenic road access up to about half of the mountain's elevation and remains of an old trail allowing easy access to the summit. Drumintee, Mullaghbawn, Lislea, Forkhill and Meigh lie in Slieve Gullion's immediate hinterland.

In Mythology

The mountain features in the epic poem "Táin Bó Cuailnge". It is also suggested that this is the area where Cuchullain lived as a child. There are many local legends about Slieve Gullion involving the Cailleach Beara (a witch who transforms into a hare). Slieve Gullion also features in the Fenian Cycle, where a tale is told of Finn McCool being tricked by the Cailleach Beara into jumping into the Mountain's lake, from which he emerges an old and withered man. The Fianna force the Cailleach Beara to restore the erstwhile hero back to his former self but Finn never regains the true color of his hair, with it remaining white as an old man for the rest of his life.

Other

Slieve Gullion gives its name to the surrounding countryside, and is the name an electoral area within Newry and Mourne district council. On the base Mullaughbawn.

External links

* [http://www.forestserviceni.gov.uk/index/forests-in-northern-ireland/forests-in-the-east-district/slieve-gullion-forest-park.htm Slieve Gullion forest park]
* [http://www.mythicalireland.com/other/slievegullion.php Slieve Gullion, Co. Armagh: A mythical mountain with two cairns on the summit]

References