A little unexpected child-free time recently allowed for an unprepared hike up into the Dromara Hills, County Down & I do not regret the last-minute decision to head for Legananny Mountain (aka Cratlieve) one bit. What an unexpected pleasure!
O'Donovan suggested that the name of the townland of Legananny - Lag an Eanaigh - meant ‘hollow of the marsh’. T.F. O’Rahilly thought the name could be Lagán Áine ‘little hollow of the [mountain goddess] Áine’. The first part of the word 'liag' may also mean ‘a large stone; a monolith’. None of these suggestions are unreasonable in my opinion - they all make complete sense once you've visited!
In his wonderful book 'Myth, Legend and Romance, and Encylopedia of the Irish Folk Tradition' (1991), Dr Daithi O hOgain describes Áine as an 'Otherworld lady', said to have been the daughter of Manannán MacLir the 'sea god'. 'The name originally meant 'brightness; which was a typical attribute of Irish goddesses.'. Áine is particularly associated with County Limerick, but Legananny is one of a few spots in Ulster where she is also remembered. At Cnoc Áine, Co Derry, she is said to take an interest in local affairs and is supposed to have once woken a cowherd to tell him that his cattle had strayed. In Co Donegal she is remembered at another 'Cnoc Áine', this time as an ordinary girl who, tired of her father's behaviour, went 'into the hill'. She is said to live here, 'spinning the sunbeams and making gold cloth of the thread'.
Many people will, of course, be familiar with the famous portal tomb the 'Legananny Dolmen' nearby; but having visited the Dolmen many times before and it wasn't our intention to go there at all - in fact we were originally headed for Slieve Croob...
However, just before reaching the carpark at Croob we decided to stop the car at the side of the road and hoof it up the track which leads towards the summit of Cratlieve instead. Interestingly, on the way up the hill you pass a number of overgrown paths leading to forgotten & tumbledown farm cottages. Here at least, it's like you're travelling back in time the higher up you climb.
At the summit of this mountain, is what remains of a round cairn.
This place has a beautifully fertile and remote feel to it, and despite its proximity to Croob it is in no way dominated by the mountain. In fact, Áine's mountain seems able to create an 'otherworld' all of its own... More on the cairn in a minute, but the first thing we did was take in the view! I took a video, although it won't do it justice (it was windy of course!).
Look out for with the view to Slieve Croob just to the NE of Cratlieve, and as the camera spins round you can pick out Dundrum Bay, the sea at Newcastle, Slieve Donard, Slieve Gullion, Dechomet Mountain and Knock Iveagh; as well as Lough Neagh, the Lagan Valley, the Antrim Plateau, and great views of Belfast & Belfast Lough.
The Antrim Plateau is very clear to the North, and you can also make out the Sperrin Mountains in County Tyrone beyond. It wouldn't surprise me if on a clearer day you could also see as far as Derry and Fermanagh.
As you reach the top of the hill you'll notice that the ground becomes increasingly boggy underfoot, with some pools. A section of land lying between the two main outcrops seems to fit O'Donovan's description: 'hollow of the marsh' rather well!
And so to the (rather oval-shaped!) round cairn. We paced it out at around 9 metres long and roughly 6 wide. Some kerbstones were visible, and perhaps the cist in the middle. No cairn stones were obvious. It was small, but perfectly poised and with incredible views, particularly down the valley towards Dundrum Bay. In reality the structure is more oval than round and there doesn't appear to be much (if anything) of a cairn remaining, but nonetheless, it is SO worth the trip!
The walk is fairly straightforward, and the reward is a feeling of unspoilt isolation and splendour which is these days tragically rare for a County Down hilltop. For this reason if no other, it would seem sensible to increase the level of protection given to this monument; particularly in light of the development which has taken place at the cairns close by at Slieve Croob and Dechomet (and elsewhere).
The bad weather which, on arrival, had seemingly been headed straight for us somehow managed to avoid us completely and we were able to eat our picnic in comfort. When we eventually tore ourselves away from this lovely hilltop we returned home via the famous 'Legananny Dolmen' which is located further down the hillside.
Both the cairn and the dolmen at Áine's mountain have a similarly 'delicate' and feminine quality to them. Neither are big, but they are both beautiful and memorable.
I don't know of any particular association between Áine and cowherds in County Down, but it's tempting to wonder at the proximity of this hill with next-door Slievenaboley (Sliabh na Buaile ‘mountain of the summer pasturage’). Perhaps Áine is still keeping an eye on the local cows from her bright and sunny hilltop. It's tempting in the current climate, to keep an eye on her too!
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