The Táin March 2017

Historical and Topographical Notes on the Route of Tàin Bó Cúailnge between Tulsk, Co. Roscommon to , Co.

By Paul Gosling

DAY 1: Rathcroghan to Lissonuffy The bulk on the first day’s march is on by-roads but necessitates the negotiation of a 0.5km segment of the N5 at Rathcroghan and a 1.5km stretch of the N61 northwards out of Tulsk. This part of the route has been plotted on the basis of placenames in ‘Sligi na Tána’, so so-called itinerary ofTBC which commences as follows: ‘On the Monday after the autumn festival of Samhain they set out. They travelled south-east from Crúachan Aí, by Mucc Cruinb, past Terloch Teóra Crích, past Túaim Móna, past Cúil Silinne, …. ’(TBC1, Lines 114-130). A) ‘Crúachan Aí’ is Rathcroghan mound from where The Táin March is set to begin; B) ‘Mucc Cruinb, past Terloch Teóra Crích’: the locations of these places appear to be lost; C) ‘Túaim Móna’: this is preserved in the name Toomona, a townland c.2km west of Tulsk. D) The route brings us past Tobar Ogulla (formerly the fountain of Clebach), a holy spring-well where St. Patrick met and baptised the daughters of King Laoghaire. E) The story itself informs us that at the end of the first day’s march the army made their first camp at ‘Cúil Silinne’, a toponym which still survives as Kilcooley, a parish midway between Tulsk and Strokestown. In a marginal note in the Lebor na hUidre version of TBC, ‘Cúil Silinne’ is glossed as ‘the site of Loch Cairrcín today’ (TBC1, line 137). Hogan’s Onomasticon Goedelicum (1910) identifies ‘Loch Cairrcín’ as Ardakillin Lough, 9.5km south-east of Rathcroghan. This lake has a rich archaeology (multiple crannogs) and is historically referenced as a ‘seat’ of the O’Conors in medieval times. F) The march concludes at Lissonuffy, a medieval church site, formerly a monastery of Augustinian Canons at the western foot of Slieve Bawn. The remains comprise a church, cross-slab, bullaun and possible early eccl. enclosure.

DAYS 2-6: Lissonuffy – Sl. Bawn – Termonbarry – Cloondara - Longford The following days marches involve a combination of by-roads forest paths, and a short segment of National routeway east of Termonbarry. A) Writing in 1938, Henry Morris recorded the following information: ‘a woman in Co. Roscommon showed me where the old road ran between Scramoge Gap and the Shannon, over which Meave marched her army. “How do you know it was there?” I asked. “Because my father dug up the flags with which it was paved” she replied’ (Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of , Vol. 68, p.120). B) In Lebor na hUidre, the next three placenames on the itinerary list after ‘Cúil Silinne’ are ‘Fid, Bolga and Coltain’ but none of these have been satisfactorily located. In the Book of , Fid is rendered as ‘Dubfid’ and Bolga as ‘Badbna’. The latter is possibly as truncated name for Slieve Bawn which is known in the medieval sources as Sliabh Badna or Bádna. In his Onomasticon (p. 446,) Hogan is of the opinion that ‘Medb marched over Slieve Bawne, over Coltain, al. Moin Colna (bog bet. Sl. Bawne and the Shannon), over Áth Coltna on the Shannon, and so over the Shannon to Glúine Gabair in c. Longf., which is at or nr Cloon Dara’. C) In the Book of Leinster version of TBC, the next name after ‘Coltain’ on the itinerary list is ‘Sinaind’ – the . Given the prominence of this river in Ireland’s geography and lore, it is strange that the only mention of it in TBC occurs in the itinerary list (TBC2, line 282). On the maps accompanying Thomas

Kinsella’s translation of TBC (Oxford University Press, 1970), Gene Haley depicts the army as crossing the Shannon at Termonbarry. He tentatively suggests that the original ford may have been at Fisherstown c.2km upstream from Termonbarry Bridge. However, a close reading of Edmund Hogan’s Onomasticon Goedelicum suggests that the crossing point was at or just south of Termonbarry for Hogan equates ‘Glúne Gabair’ (the next placename after ‘Sinaind’) as ‘at or near Cloon Dara’. D) Having forded the Shannon, the text of TBC1 informs us that the army ‘came on then to Mag Trego and there they encamped and prepared food for themselves’. This was their second camp. ‘Mag Trego’ was a medieval territory in the vicinity of Longford Town roughly coterminous with the civil parishes of Clongesh and part of Templemichael which lie north of the town. E) The route from Cloondara to Longford is unclear. The present N5 road originated c.1800 as a carriage road: A ‘Map of the Kingdom of Ireland divided into Provinces, Counties and Baronies’ by John Rocque, dated 1794 shown no bridge at Termonbarry and no road from there to Longford. The Down Survey maps (1656-58) show an older route looping northwards from Cloondara via Ballykenny and Caldragh to approach Longford town from the north. This the route which the March will follow. F) Very little information is available regarding the route taken by Queen Medb’s forces from Longford to Granard. The route chosen for The Táin March has been dictated by our decision to avoid main roads and the need to have a day end-point in a village somewhere between Longford and Granard. We have chosen Ballinalee.

DAYS 7-8: Longford – Ballinalee – Granard - Ballymanus Very little information is available regarding the routetaken by Queen Medb’s forces between Longford and Ballymanus. A) Having left ‘Mag Trego’ (Longford town), the text of TBC1 informs us that ‘after the army had been led astray across bogs and streams they went and spent the night in Granard in northern Tethba’. The March will avoid the main road from Ballinalee to Granard, and follow by-roads via Coolagherty, Milltown and Killeen to Granard. B) Shortly after they left Granard, they went astray once again. The natural route to Cooley would have been eastwards via the R194 to Ballyjamesduff, in Co. Cavan but Fergus Mac Róich deliberately turned Medb’s forces southwards. As the texts of TBC1 relates: ‘He went far astray to the south to give the Ulstermen time to complete the mustering of their army. This he did out of affection for his own kin’. As a result, they eventually ended up in Kells, Co. Meath. The itinerary list or ‘Sligi na Tána’ in TBC 2 lists 18 obscure placenames between ‘Mag Trega’ (Longford town) and ‘Cúil Siblinne’ (Kells) suggesting that the army wandered through much of Co. Westmeath. C) The southward diversion almost certainly took them through Finnea – Fiodhan Átha (the Wood of the Ford). Though it is not mentioned in TBC, Finnea is an historic strategic location commanding the narrow corridor between Lough Sheelin and Lough Kinale. D) We have chosen Ballymanus as the end-point for the day as it is only 4km from Rathmea, in Co. Meath where tradition holds that Medb camped (see Day 4).

DAYS 9-10: Ballymanus – Crossakeel – Kells – Faughan Hill - Teltown The route from Ballymanus to Kells hangs on three pieces of information, one from the text of TBC, the other two from local lore. The day’s walk is entirely via by-roads from Ballymanus, in Westmeath, southwards of SlievenaCalliagh (Loughcrew– the hilltop cemetery of megalithic Passage Tombs) to Kells, in Co. Meath. A) According to local lore, Queen Medb is reputed to have camped on the Westmeath/Meath border at Rathmea so our route runs north and east from Ballymanus to view this location. The Field Names of County Meath records the following piece of lore regarding this townland: ‘Rathmea near Oldcastle has a fort … the townland name is said to mean Meadhbh’s Fort. This fort is reputed to be on the route of Queen

Meadhbh’s journey to Ulster. She is said to have camped at this location’ (Joan Mullen, The Field Names of County Meath, The Meath Field Names Project, 2013, p.310). B) Fergus eventually confessed to Queen Medb that he had led them astray. Having wandered through ‘every strange district’, the text of TBC1 informs us that the army then ‘went on to IrardCuilenn, today called CrossaCáil’. This is the village of Crossakeel. C) From Crossakeel, we follow a series of by-roads north-eastwards to Castlekeeran to visit St. Ciaran’s Well, another natural spring with a wealth of lore and ritual activity centred on the 15th August (the Festival of Lughnasa). According to The Meath Chronicle for 20th August 1982, ‘when the men of Connaught were on their way to try and capture the “brown bull of Cooley” they are reputed to have camped for the night at St. Keeran’s Well, Carnacross’. D) The text of TBC1 records that Queen Medb’s army ‘spent the night then in Cúil Sibrille, that is, Cennannas [= Kells]. Heavy snow fell on them, reaching the girdles of the men and the wheels of the chariots’. This was the fourth camp on their journey eastwards. E) The maps in Kinsella’s translation of TBC (Oxford University Press 1970) show Queen Medb’s army taking a south-easterly course from Kells to Faughan Hill, a local prominence featured in the itinerary list of TBC as ‘Ochuind’. F) From Faughan, Queen Medb’s forces appear to have wheeled sharply north-eastwards and crossed the River Blackwater about 1km upstream from the road bridge at Donaghpatrick. We will be using the bridge but the river-crossing is known as Martry Ford or ‘Meave’s Ford’. Traces of the approach roads to the ford survive on both banks and Henry Morris provides us with a colourful vignette regarding it: ‘the local seanachaidhe tells you that Meave was carried across it on her husband’s back’ (Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol. 56, p. 36). The proximity of this ford to the important early medieval óenach site at Teltown (Tailtiu) on the north side of the river, is no mere coincidence for it features in TBC on the homeward leg of the story. Part of the old roadway which traversed the site of the assembly site is visible in the fields north of Teltown House. G) On the outward leg of the journey, Medb’s forces proceeded towards Navan from Teltown and then on to Slane and Monasterboice. However, we are re-tracing the homeward leg and so we proceed towards Rathkenny where there are further traditions regarding TBC.

NB: As we proceed northwards from Teltown, we cross an important conceptual boundary. From Rathcroghan to the point where we cross the River Blackwater at Teltown/Donaghpatrick, we have been re-tracing the outward leg of the cattle-raid, following Queen Medb’s forces as they progress from Roscommon to Louth. However, once we cross the river we make a route-switch and will now be retracing, in reverse, the homeward leg of the same cattle-raiders as they return from Cooley to Rathcroghan!

DAYS 13-15: Teltown – Rathkenny – - A) The recently published book on Field Names of County Meath records the following piece of lore regarding Slieve Breagh which overlooks Rathkenny from the north-east: ‘The highest point in the parish is Downey’s Mountain at 753 feet or 229 meters. It is known as Slieve Breagh. … The name … appears frequently in the annals as well as in ’ most famous literary text, the Táin Bó Cúailnge. … Meave’s army evidently passed through Rathkenny. The journey was from Cruachan … to Ath Fherdia in Louth. According to the story the Brown Bull of Cooley, standing on top of Slieve Breagh, surveys his own country … and, in a rage against the invaders, slays all around him’ (Joan Mullen, The Field Names of County Meath, 2013, pps. 329- 30). B) Medb’s forces camped at Smarmore (Imorach Smirorach). Closeby in the townland of Hurlstone, the Ulster warrior Cethern ‘rushed at the pillar stone [bearing Ailill’s crown] and drove his sword through it and his fist after the sword. Hence the place-name Lia Toll in Crích Rois’. The holed stone survives to this day.

C) Ardee alias ‘Áth Fhir Diad’ was the scene of the great single-combat and literary set-piece of the Táin, the four-day fight between Cúchulainn and his childhood friend Ferdia. D) Medb’s forces must have crossed the River Glyde at some point: the most likely fords were probably at and Mapastown. Both locations are graced with Anglo-Norman motte-castles, indicating that they were of strategic value in the late 12th century, and probably long before. Louth village (Lugmod) also features in the story as the place the Ulster hero Óengus Mac Óenlaimhe Gaibe confronts Medb’s forces and drives them back north to ‘Áth da Fherta’, a ford on the River Fane. E) Medb pitches camp at BreslachMór in Mag Muirthemne, where many of her warriors are slaughtered by Cúchulainn. Haley and Kinsella place this battle site north of the River Fane and east of Knockbridge. Stephenstown Pond, in this exact area, is the end-point of the March today.

DAY 16: Knockbridge – Rahiddy - Castletown - Today’s march is one of the shortest because it is being dovetailed with Táin-themed events in the Market Square, Dundalk. A) Following an old by-road northwards from Stephenstown Pond our first stop is at Rathiddy to view ‘Cloghafarmore’, an impressive prehistoric standing stone close to Knockbridge village. According to tradition, this is the stone to which Cúchulainn bound himself in order to die upright and facing his enemies. This stone and the story provided the inspiration for Oliver Sheppard’s bronze statue of Cú Chulainn in the GPO, O’Connell St., Dublin. B) Cuchulainn’s Castle is a fine Anglo-Norman motte-castle crowned by ‘Pirate Byrne’s Castle’, an 18th century folly. It is held in local tradition to be Cúchulainn’s foster home. It is known officially as Castletown Mount,and in Irish as ‘Dún Dealgan’ and features a number of times in TBC as ‘Delga’. It was used by Cúchulainn as a base from which to track and harass Queen Medb’s forces on the journey into, and out, of Cooley.

DAY 17: Toberona – Faughart – the Gap of the North – Jonesborough - Ravensdale The penultimate day takes us to a string of locations closely associated with some of the best known episodes in TBC. A) Our first stop is in the western outskirts of Dundalk at Toberona. The bridge over the (= the river ‘Níth’) stands just upstream from Áth Carpat, an old fording point mentioned in TBC. This ford was a strategic place, just above the limit of the tides, just below the confluence of the Castletown and Kilcurry rivers. Across it ran the medieval routeway known as ‘Slige Midlúachra’, one of the so-called ‘great roads’ radiating from Tara (Temair). B) The ‘Slige Midlúachra’ skirted the western side of Faughart Hill before winding its way into the Moiry Pass (Bernas Bó nUlad). Under the name ‘Focherd’, itfeatures no fewer than four times in TBC, on each occasion as the scene of combats fought by Cúchulainn with warriors from Medb’s army. The hilltop (OD 113m) is a low but strategic summit in the local landscape, crowned by an Anglo-Norman motte castle and medieval ecclesiastical remains dedicated to St. Brigid. C) ‘Curralhir Bridge’ spans the River Flurry at Ravensdale. Its tongue-twisting name features in TBC as ‘Cúil Airthir’ where Medb’s forces pitched their tents as they attempted to exit from Cooley with the captive Donn Cúailnge (the Brown Bull of Cooley). Cúchulainn killed 30 warriors here! D) The day’s walk concludes at Ballymakellett at The Lumpers public house. This is the best spot to view Drumenagh Hill (DruimFéne) and Tipping’s Wood (Ochaíne). The latter is the location where the youthful Cúchulainn donned a false beard in order to draw the warrior Nadcranntail into combat before skewering him head to anus with his spear. We are now right on the border between the historic territories of Conaille Muirthemne (north Louth) and Cúailnge (the ).

DAY 18: Ballymakellet – Carnawaddy – Clermont Cairn – Ardaghy - Omeath The final day takes The March across the uplands of Cooley. In early medieval times, this peninsula was known as Cúailnge and was the homeland of Don Cúailnge, the Brown Bull of Cooley.

A) We begin at Ballymakellett Bridge beside The Lumpers public house. Haley and Kinsella equate the Ballymakellett River with ‘GlaisGatlaig’, one of three rivers in Cooley which rose up against Medb’s forces, the others being the Big River (Cronn) and the Ryland River (Colptha). It is much more likely that ‘GlaisGatlaig’ was the River Flurry, a more substantial watercourse which rises near Camlough, flows through a deep valley at Ravensdale (=Glenn Gatlaig) and debouches into Dundalk Bay at Ballymascanlan. B) As we ascend the western flank of The Round Mountain we get a fine view of ‘Gleandurrougha’, the small secluded valley on Doolargy Mountain, at the head of which is the well-known early medieval ringfort of Lissachiggel. Haley and Kinsella equate this valley with ‘Dubchaire Glinne Gaitt’. At one point in TBC, the story informs us that Donn Cúailnge ‘with sixty heifers … is now in Dubchaire’. C) We will reach the ridge summit close The Castle (383m) and then walk the ridge line to Black Mountain (508m), passing ‘Carnawaddy’ (the Cairn of the Dog) along the way. D) The summit of Black Mountainis crowned by a Neolithic Passage Tomb (Clermont Cairn). In TBC, the story relates that Queen Medb’s forces crossed the mountain above Omeath to ‘Bélat Alióin and spent the night at LiasaLiac … between Cúailnge and Conaille’. The name bélat means a ‘crossway, pass, frontier’, an appropriate name for this ridgeland. E) Queen Medb most likely used the Cadger’s Pad, an upland trackway once used by the fishmongers to transport produce from Omeath to Dundalk. We will descend along this path to Ardaghy and follow the by- roads to the shore of Carlingford Louth at Omeath. The Táin March is done!