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Peace in the valley
MALCOLM ROGERS looks at a luxury stay in the Cooley Mountains.
 Stoats
evidently can’t hear mobile phones. Walking in the Cooleys last
week I got a text. Beep beep. I stopped to read it, and because I was
motionless for a few seconds the stoat didn’t see me.
(In David Attenborough whispered tones) The Irish stoat, Mustela erminea
hibernica lopes along a dry stone wall just 20 yards away from me. Stopping
to sniff the air, he takes stock of conditions and tries to work out a
plan which would guarantee lunch. He eventually makes off in the direction
of some rabbit holes.
Meanwhile, I continue on my journey up Slieve Foy. I try to resist the
temptation, just as David Attenborough would have done, to announce the
difference between a weasel and a stoat. (One is weasily recognised while
the other is stoatally different.)
The stoat wasn’t the only mammal I met that day. Sheep there are
aplenty in the Cooleys, as well as wild (or semi-wild) horses, wild goats
— although most were shot in the foot-and-mouth outbreak five years
ago — and of course foxes. However, in four hours of walking I met
no other humans. The Cooley Mountains — the home of the ancient
Cattle Raid of Cooley saga — are atmospheric, romantic and very
empty.
Mind you, not far away is Carlingford with its reputation as the cuisine
and craic capital of these northerly parts and if traditional music is
to your liking, south Armagh, just a couple of miles over the border,
is home to some of the oldest and finest traditional sessions in Ireland.
In the pubs hereabouts you’ll be made as welcome as any local, and
a traveller can ask no more than that.
Now, if you want to stay in the heart of the Cooleys — whether for
hiking, trekking or trad music — two luxury self-catering houses
are available in the lovely Glenmore Valley. Running some half-dozen miles
from a place called the Long Woman’s Grave overlooking Carlingford
Lough down to Dundalk Bay, Glenmore, is ablaze with colour in autumn.
On one side of the valley Slieve Foy rises to almost 2,000 feet, while
facing it Slievenaglogh looks out to the Mourne Mountains and beyond to
the Irish Sea.
The Swallows and the Eagles (about two miles apart) have earned a 4-star
accolade from Bord Failte. The former is a farmhouse which has been tastefully
and sympathetically restored and is now a comfortable home with every
modern convenience. The house sleeps 8-10 people, self-catering. Central
heating, satellite television and en suite bathroom, naturally come as
part of the deal, with electricity and oil included in the price.
The Eagles is a four-bedroom self-catering house — the ultimate
in self-catering accommodation. Italian furnishing, Waterford crystal,
turf fires, huge modern kitchen. If you’re doing up a house, don’t
bother buying glossy interiors magazines for inspiration — come
and stay here.
Situated in a pine grove in the middle of the mountains, this is the epitome
of bleak chic.
All rooms have stupendous views across the valley — you’ll
be able to sit back in your leather armchair and imagine Queen Medbh massing
her Connacht men for the final attack on Cu Chullain, the Hound of Ulster.
Unfortunately Medbh died shortly after trying to steal the Brown Bull
of Cooley — someone threw a piece of hardened cheese which hit her
on the head.
If only they’d packed the camembert. You can ponder on the vicissitudes
of a warrior queen’s life — and whether the cattle Raid of
Cooley is a load of old bull — as you gaze at the deep defile in
the mountains known as Medbh’s Gap. By the way, it’s clearly
visible from the comfort of the south-facing drawing room of the Eagles.
Try to bag the sofa nearest the main window — it also happens to
be closest to the drinks cabinet.
You may find it hard to leave the comfort of your house and the lure of
the mountains — but should you wish to visit one of Carlingford’s
many pubs or restaurants, a taxi service will have you into the town in
15 minutes.
The Swallows and the Eagles are very keenly priced (see below) and while
you might not actually see an eagle, you will see ravens, buzzards, peregrine
falcons — and if you arrange to have a text sent to you at the right
time, an Irish stoat.
Tel: (+353) 041 9823366 e-mail tcromwell@eircom.net
www.theeaglescarlingford.
com
Price: Seven nights e750; weekend e550. |
