Tom and I headed off this morning to spend the day exploring Sligo and Leitrim. We drove to Mullaghmore then turned inland towards the mountains.
We passed Benwiskin mountain which looks like a breaking wave, it forms the end of he stunning Gleniff Horseshoe ridge which is part of the Dartry Mountains.
Gleniff Horseshore is a six-mile loop along a one track road. As you near a ruined school house you'll see a very large cave high in the cliff face, Kesh Corran, the home of the ill-fated lovers, Diarmad and Grainne. The cliff is also honeycombed with abandoned mine shafts.
The school house must have been a place of education for the children of those who once laboured in the mines.
As you near the end of the loop you'll come to the ruins of a 19th century mill which has been turned into a picnic area.
Back on the road you had turned off to begin the Gleniff Horseshoe loop, you turn right and while this road is still single-lane it will get worse before it improves again. In fact, it looks like a cart track before it improves again.
This road is badly sign posted with what can only be described as sign posts with a Celtic spiral and nothing else pointing the way to the Eagle's Rock, an awe-inspiring, rock formation which is Ireland's highest freestanding tower. A journey well worth taking for the views alone.
You could almost imagine the giant Fionn mac Cumhaill separating it from the mountain with a single thrust of his axe, in a fit of rage because he was unable to find Diarmad and Grainne who were hiding from him in Kesh Corran cave.
Then we reached the main Glenade road and travelled back home through Manorhamilton and Enniskillen, a round trip of 183 miles from our front door and back.
What a fantastic way to spend your birthday ...
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Thomas Dixie Elliot is a Derry artist and a former H Block Blanketman. Follow Dixie Elliot on Twitter @IsMise_Dixie |
Belated birthday wishes Mr Elliott glad you had a great day
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