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The Old Kenmare Road is truly one of the most scenic trails in Ireland. It crosses through the Esknamucky Glen, a narrow pass between Cromaglan Mountain and Stumpacommeen high in the mountains above Killarney in County Kerry.

The Old Kenmare Road was described by Charles Smith in the 1750s as a Grand Jury Road known as the Glanerought Road, built by subscription in order to link Killarney to the sea. As well as being beautifully scenic, the road has some fascinating historical tales to tell.

As you pass down the road, you can see graffiti etched into the rock by passing soldiers who were serving in the British Army in 1815. Though much of the graffiti has eroded away over time, one inscription still stands strong from the rock: ’James Neill Tippy Rgt [Tipperary Regiment] 1815’ . This immediately had us wondering whether James and his fellow soldiers had fought in the era defining Battle of Waterloo that was fought in June 1815 between the British Army and their allies under Wellington, against the French Army of Napoleon. Military preparations for the battle led to intense military activity throughout Ireland. It is estimated that over 90,000 Irishmen had joined the British army since 1800, and between April and June 1815, dozens of ships left from ports all around Ireland carrying troops to Belgium.  

Was James Neill amongst them?  The “Tippy Regt “ was most likely the 99th (Prince of Wales's Tipperary) Regiment of Foot. It was raised in Clonmel in 1804 in response to the renewal of the war with France in 1803. It subsequently served in Bermuda and saw action on the Niagara Frontier in the North American War of 1812–1815.

It is not listed among the Irish regiments (those with formal links to Ireland at any rate) that took part in the Battle of Waterloo. In 1815 there were the ten Irish infantry regiments in the British army but only one participated in the Battle of Waterloo, the 1st Battalion, 27th (Inniskilling) Foot. This is largely due to the majority of experienced British Army regiments being sent to America and Canada following the cessation of hostilities between Britain and France in 1814. Little did Wellington know at the time that Napoleon would escape from exile in Elba to wage war again just months later, he must have deeply regretted the absence of his experienced veterans like James Neill and the Tipperary Regiment.

So what was James Neill doing in Esknamucky Glen in 1815? A possibility is that he had returned from America with his regiment and was on holidays in Killarney. The evidence for this comes in a letter written by another soldier. Major Edwin Griffith, a Hussar, was based in Clonmel when he wrote home to say that he was on the march to Cork for embarkation to Waterloo. The mobilisation had interrupted his plans to travel to Killarney. “Dalrymple & I’ he wrote ‘ had intended to make our first visit to Killarney in May; but this Belgium party will rather interfere.’ And it sadly did. Edwin Griffith was killed in action on 18 June 1815.

By the time that James Neill and his comrades etched their names in the rock, the road had become little more than a neglected bridle path. Despite its neglect, it was still the only road between Killarney and Kenmare. The road was bypassed in the 1820s when an engineer called Griffith built nearly 250 miles of road (including the N71) following the Whiteboy insurrection of 1821, when the security forces were baffled by the lack of roads in Kerry. 

The townlands along the road were emptied of people over the next forty years, through a combination of famine, emigration and efforts by the landowner to clear the glens in order to create a deer forest. By the 1860s the Old Kenmare Road would have look pretty much like it is now, a rough track through an upland wilderness, a truly scenic and evocative route where you can walk in the footsteps of James Neill and his fellow soldiers, who passed along it some 200 years before.

The Old Kenmare Road is part of the Kerry Way and is well signposted. It covers a mix of terrain, mostly track but also some rough ground. Caution is advised. The easiest way to access the graffiti is to start at Torc Waterfall upper carpark. Take on The N71 Killarney to Molls Gap road, pass the main entrance Muckross House and take a minor road 300 metres on the left. This takes you to Cloghereen Upper, above Torc Waterfall. Leave the car in the carpark and proceed to the left on foot (no bikes allowed) to the entrance to Killarney National Park, pass Old Torc Bridge and follow the old cobbled road through the gap between Torc and Mangerton mountains, following the line of the Owengarriff River into open peatland at Ferta. Continue along the track for approximately 3.5 kilometres or, roughly, 40 minutes. The route takes you over a low hill, descends to the Crinnagh river and continues across a flat area roughly 400 metres wide. After this the track rises and enters a wooded gorge. The graffiti is on a distinctive slab of rock on the right.   

Return the way you came or, continue on to Galway’s Bridge but you will need transport to return to your car from Galway’s Bridge.

Another option is to park at the main Torc Waterfall carpark on the N71 and climb 90 metres through deciduous forest to the upper carpark. 

  

More info at:

Route: http://www.kerryway.com/trail-description/torc-waterfall-galways-bridge.php

Map: http://www.killarneynationalpark.ie/images/parkmap.jpg

Photography and text by Ciarán Walsh:

Ciarán is a post-graduate researcher in the Anthropology Department of Maynooth University, who worked with Abarta Audio Guides on an Irish Research Council funded Employment Based Postgraduate Research Programme.

Fancy exploring some of Ireland’s fantastic heritage sites this weekend? Please check out the rest of our blog http://timetravelireland.blogspot.ie where we have more suggestions for great places to visit. You can also download audioguides from our website www.abartaheritage.ie, where we have 25 guides that tell the story of Irish heritage and the majority are absolutely free to download. 

If you’d like to keep up with daily images and information about Ireland’s fantastic heritage sites please consider following our company Abarta Audioguides on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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If you sail twelve kilometres (eight miles) into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Kerry you can see one of the most remarkable heritage sites in the world – the monastery of Skellig Michael. The site is one of only two of Ireland’s World Heritage Sites (the other is Newgrange), and it is possibly the most rewarding, remarkable, beautiful and atmospheric heritage site in Ireland.
 
Skellig Michael or Sceilig Mhichíl meaning The Steep Rock of Michael appears like a craggy pyramid standing proud of the ocean. It is formed of the same 400 million year old Old Devonian Sandstone that runs all the way to the MacGillycuddy's Reeks. Perched on top of this craggy island is an early medieval monastery, that legend says was founded by St Fionán in the sixth century.



Going into exile for the love of God (‘peregrinatio pro Dei amore’), has conceptual roots in the belief that greater understanding of God can be achieved by withdrawing from civilization into harsh and isolated regions. In the wonderful RTE Radio Documentary Skelligs Calling, archaeologist Michael Gibbons speaks very eloquently about the possible motivations behind the monks decision to leave the comparative safety and comforts of the mainland to travel to a place of danger and hardship. In these early days of western Christianity, God and the Devil were very real, so for the monks these islands on the edge of the known world, like Skellig Michael, are the places you are likely to encounter the devil to drive him back through prayer before he reached the mainland to corrupt the people and drive them to sin. These islands acted as the equivalent of radar stations or early warning positions, surrounding and protecting the newly Christian Ireland from the depredations of the Devil. 

Life in a community like Skellig Michael must have been contemplative rather than active. Once the building work had been completed there was relatively little for the monks to do – catching seabirds and gathering eggs, fishing, perhaps even hunting seals, maybe a small amount of gardening, there is no firewood or turf on the island, perhaps they had to gather driftwood – so most of their day must have been given to prayer. Though with all the seabirds, eggs, fish and even seals on hand they must have been comparatively well fed compared to some other monastic hermitages.

The monastery is reached by a series of steep stone steps carrying you up 160m to the site. A large stone wall protected the monastery, within which you can find six circular corbelled drystone cells known as clocháins, these are dark inside with little natural light, but they are surprisingly dry and spacious – the largest being around 5m (16 feet) in diameter and 5m (16 feet) high. There are also two corbelled rectangular oratories (small chapels) similar in style to Gallarus Oratory and a later church dedicated to St. Michael. This church is the only one on the island to have been constructed using mortar, this was sampled and returned a radiocarbon date of AD 690–880. 

A number of small outdoor altars in the complex suggest that prayer may have involved a processional aspect, the largest of these altar type structures is known as ‘the Monk’s Graveyard’, it is unknown how many of the monks are actually buried at this spot, but there are around 20 grave slabs, including one with markings that may indicate it is a sundial.

The 'Monk's Graveyard', notice the marks on the graveslab in the foreground, could it be a rudimentary sundail?

There is another small hermitage just below the south peak at the highest point of the island, however I’m afraid we did not chance visiting it, as it is a dangerous place to reach so please do not attempt it unless you are with a suitably qualified and experienced guide with safety equipment.

Plundered by the Vikings twice in the ninth century, it was recorded that Etgal of Skellig Michael was carried off by the Vikings in 824 and died soon after of hunger and thirst. The monastery on Skellig Michael was abandoned in the tenth or eleventh century for a new monastery on the mainland at Ballinaskelligs.

On the return trip from Skellig Michael the boat brings you to Little Skellig, home to tens of thousands of gannets, who wheel and soar around the craggy island, coating it in thick layers of their guano. At the base of Little Skellig intrepid divers may find cannons from an eighteenth century shipwreck, locally known as The Lady Nelson, there are a number of stories about the ship, such as that the ship had a cargo of wine coming from Portugal, and an argument erupted between the ships captain and first mate who had been having an affair with the captains wife, in the heat of the row neither captain nor mate paid attention to the ships course and it struck the Small Skelligs and sank. 

Little Skellig (foreground) with Skellig Michael (background), note all the gannets swirling round the island

Getting There

We took a boat from Portmagee though there are a number of people that can take you out from Ballinskelligs or Valentia too, the journey will cost around €45 per person. (there is no charge on the island) I recommend you bring waterproofs for the boat journey as you can get a decent drenching! The boat takes around 45mins to reach the island and you generally have about two hours on the island itself. The season begins in May and ends in September see http://www.heritageireland.com/en/skelligmichael/ for details of when the OPW Guides are present. I’ve been told that June is the best time of year to go as all the Puffins and seabirds are there, they all migrate by the end of August so we only saw gulls and gannets (and three very camera shy seals on Little Skellig)

Safety Warning!

 
















The trip is extremely weather dependent, and a visit is only suitable in calm weather. We were very fortunate with calm dry conditions but I wouldn’t be keen on attempting the steps if they were wet and slippy or in strong gusty winds. The steps themselves can be daunting and unfortunately serious injuries and fatalities have happened on the island, in the perfectly calm day we had there were still one or two places that were a little freaky, so take your time and wear comfortable but sturdy boots. Never walk off the stairs or path as you can dislodge the loose stones that may injure someone below you.

I would not recommend this site for children below the age of around 15, and given the steepness of the steps it requires a reasonable level of fitness and a decent head for heights.

There are no toilet facilities on the island and no rubbish bins. It is a very vulnerable site so please be careful not to disturb any of the structures or flora or fauna.

If you have a suggestion for a site I’d love to hear it, please let us know by dropping us a line at info@abartaaudioguides.com or on Facebook, Twitter or Google+, where you can keep up with daily pictures and information about Ireland's wonderful heritage sites.

If you'd like to support us please consider downloading one of our audioguides from www.abartaaudioguides.com, they are packed with great facts, information, stories and legends from Ireland's iconic sites. They are designed to be fun and informative whether you are visiting the sites or from the comfort of your own home, so if you are looking to escape to the Court of Brian Boru the next time you are doing household chores download one of our guides and let us whisk you off to ancient Ireland!

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Aghadoe Church and Round Tower just outside Killarney in County Kerry, is certainly in a picturesque setting. Little remains of the early medieval monastery that was founded here by Saint Finian the Leper in the 7th Century. As with most early medieval monastic sites, the majority of the original buildings were probably constructed from timber. However no visible traces of those remain, and we are left with a stone church and the base of a round tower.

The stone church looks to have at least three phases of construction and parts have been extensively reconstructed by the Office of Public Works. The western end may be the oldest. This might be traces of the great church of Achadh Dá Eo, that was completed in 1158 by Amhlaoibh O’Donoghue and dedicated to the Holy Trinity and to Saint Mary. It has a wonderful Romanesque doorway, with an incredibly detailed sculpted arch made from sandstone blocks, this is likely to have been reconstructed some time in the nineteenth century. 

The eastern wall has windows that were probably inserted in the thirteenth century, if you look closely at the windows on the inside of the church you can see a small sculpted decoration (perhaps a flower or a butterfly) and a rather worried looking head. Nearby embedded on top of the southern wall, you can also see a large slab with ogham script that reads BRRUANANN. This could have been a simple grave marker bearing a single name.

You can also see this unusual crucifixion scene that dates from the late 1600s or early 1700s. The interior of the church and the exterior are full of graves, some dating to the eighteenth century but many modern graves can be seen too. 

The unusual crucifixion scene that possibly dates to the late 1600s.

The bullaun stone

There is little remaining of the round tower other than a short stump. It is made of similar sandstone to the church, and also seems to have been partially reconstructed. Presumably in the nineteenth century when the romanesque doorway was reconstructed. You can also find a bullaun stone on the northern side of the church. These small hollowed stones are often associated with early medieval ecclesiastical sites, they may have been rudimentary holy water fonts or perhaps even used as large mortar and pestle type features to grind herbs, cereals or minerals.

Nearby to Aghadoe you can also find the remains of Parkavonear Castle. There isn't much left standing today but this circular tower that is thought to date to the thirteenth century. 

It is another echo of a time shortly after the Norman invasions, when they began to try to protect their conquests. Initially they constructed fortifications of earth and timber, but as they became more established they replaced these with castles of stone.

Aghadoe Church is certainly worth a visit for the incredible views of the surrounding landscape. You can find it on Aghadoe Heights, just two miles NNW of Killarney adjacent to the Aghadoe Heights Hotel.

If you’d like to keep up with daily images and information about Ireland’s fantastic heritage sites please consider following Neil’s company Abarta Audioguides on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Google+.

If you’d like to support us please consider downloading an audioguide from abartaheritage.ie: they are packed with great facts, information, stories and legends from Ireland’s iconic sites. They are designed to be fun and informative whether you are visiting the sites or from the comfort of your own home, so if you are looking to escape to the Court of Brian Boru the next time you are doing household chores, download one of our guides and let Abarta whisk you off to ancient Ireland!


All images © Neil Jackman/Abarta Heritage

A view of Ross Castle from Aghadoe Church

Loher Fort in County Kerry is an early medieval defensive farmstead that is beautifully positioned overlooking Ballinaskelligs Bay in County Kerry. It was probably the home of a local chieftain some time from the ninth – eleventh century.


The reconstructed circular drystone wall that surrounds the fort stands around two metres high with steps that lead to a wide rampart. In the interior of the enclosure you can find the foundations of two structures – one rectangular and one circular, presumably houses. When the site was excavated it was discovered that these stone buildings were later additions to the site, and replaced earlier wooden houses. 

 Within the circular structure archaeologists discovered the remains of a souterrain. These underground passageways typically date to the tenth or eleventh century, and there are a number of theories about what they were used for. Often people believe that they were used as refuges during raids, with the narrow passageway being difficult to assault and forcing any attackers to advance one at a time, alternatively they have been interpreted as an early form of a refrigerator or cellar, as they would maintain a constant cool temperature ideal for keeping the all important dairy products fresh. Unfortunately the souterrain at Loher Fort is now covered over and inaccessible, but the site itself is well worth a trip for its stunning views and atmosphere.  

It is easy to find, follow the Ring of Kerry road N70 south of Waterville for about 5mins or so and you’ll see it signposted to the right. This is a narrow road and it goes on for around 10 mins, stick with it and you’ll see a decent carpark on your right and the fort below you. The co-ordinates are 51.78605509 -10.165658


The Ring of Kerry is a beautiful place with a number of fantastic historical sites to visit, particularly the spectacular Skellig Michael, be sure to add Loher to your list of stops if you plan to visit the area!

If you’d like to keep up with daily images and information about Ireland’s fantastic heritage sites please consider following Neil’s company Abarta Audioguides on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Google+.

If you’d like to support Neil please consider downloading an audioguide from abartaaudioguides.com: they are packed with great facts, information, stories and legends from Ireland’s iconic sites. They are designed to be fun and informative whether you are visiting the sites or from the comfort of your own home, so if you are looking to escape to the Court of Brian Boru the next time you are doing household chores, download one of our guides and let Abarta whisk you off to ancient Ireland!


All images © Neil Jackman/Abarta Audio Guides