Ring of Gullion Way

We have been itching to get out walking in the local area but with a particularly long period of 'soft' weather among other things it has not proven possible. However the day before we fly home for Alex's birthday, the sun was shining and the air was still.... A walk that starts effectively from our mooring in Newry is the Ring of Gullion Way, the whole walk is 61 Kms in length but we had decided to walk the initial section to Flagstaff which is a hill and viewpoint above Fathom Forest which itself adjacent to Narrow water near Warrenpoint.

Most roads out of Newry involve a climb out of the valley and this was no exception, a good couple of kilometres steady climbing on the main road to Dublin saw us just before the motorway roundabout. The path however sneaks off down a small road which becomes a track and then a path.

The country is a heathland in character and doesn't really encourage rough wandering as it would be a painful struggle through the gorse. We were also unsure as to the legality ( in England we are now blessed with the "right to roam" ) so we stuck very closely to the marked pathways.

After walking around the lower slopes of Fathom Mountain, suddenly the view opened up, looking down on the Clanrye river we had come up in Dark Tarn a month ago. Lynne was looking towards Hilltown and the land of her ancestors.

The channel was fairly obvious from this height, as were the shallow bits!

To the right was a magnificent view down to Narrow Water and Carlingford Lough beyond.

We dropped Into Fathom Forest below and joined a small road climbing through the conifers towards th next hill along, Flagstaff and its viewpoint.

This was very nicely laid out with picnic benches and plaques with information on local history.

The Gullion ring is in fact the remains of an ancient volcano, the ring is actually the ring dyke formed by the rim of the Caldera and is actually a very famous geological structure. The footpath largely follows the rim hence the name. Ring of Gullion.

On our way back we decided to carry on for a short distance to the village of Clontygora in order to have a look at the chambered graves. These are dated to between 2500 BC and 3500 BC. Known locally as the  "Kings Ring" 

Chambered graves normally face East but this one faces North and would have been a very impressive structure in its day, consisting of a three tiered chambered structure. Used as a communal burial site.

At this point we were nearly back in "the south" being about 200 metres from the border.

Clontygora translates as " valley of the goats" however there were non to be seen, but almost every farm and small holding had a dog, some of which sounded a bit vicious! Most were actually very docile, this one was very friendly. He had obviously been in the wars having only three legs and being blind in one eye. We christened him " mad eye " after  mad eye Moody from Harry Potter.

 

I have always had a soft spot for Collies.......

A fantastic day out in the hills and some stunning views, we are obviously out of practise on the hillwalking front as we were both suffering from very tired legs when we got back to Newry!