A bit of hillwalking in Co. Cavan
After passing through County Cavan many times, Bellavally Gap I had accepted the idea that it was one of those counties which you pass through without stopping, because of its lack of interesting things to see. But a few years ago, while reading one of the national newspapers that the west of the county has got a lot of tall mountains, lakes and even waterfalls!
Beware, it’s not easy to get around the rural parts of the county without a GPS… don’t count on the road signs to help you: if you find one, you might realise you’ve just driven 10 km in the wrong direction. My advice would be to invest in a detailed map as the scenery in this part of the world can be really rewarding.
If you plan to stay a few hours or days in this part of County Cavan, here’s what I recommend/suggest you to do and see.
1. Start at Bellavally Gap…
The Bellavally Gap is the starting point of the walk in the Cuilcagh Mountain Range (near the R200). In the foreground (see photo#1), you can see the Bellavally Gap with its spongy/boggy ground, with Benbrack Mountain in the background. The place is so close to the border with Northern Ireland that your mobile phone will send you an SMS on the roaming T&Cs within Northern Ireland!
2. Reach a goal…
This was the goal: to reach the top of Cuilcagh Mountain, which you can see on the background. In height, this is not so impressive (less than 700m above the sea level), but the conditions to access it are not always that easy (spongy ground, heathers, bogs, rocks, streams). My advice is to start the walk early in the morning to take advantage of the full daylight. Because of the time spent to find the starting point for the climb, every minute counted and it was not possible for me to reach the top of “Cuillagh”. But I definitely come back to finish the job!
3. Do a bit of geology…
As mentioned previously, the land is made up of bogs and rocks, which all result from Glacial Activity during the last Ice Age (see photo). I really enjoyed that scenery, a great reward for courageous hillwalkers during the day!
4. Make new friends on the road…
Obviously, unless you are a sheep (see photo), good waterproof walking shoes are a must to do this walk. Also note the shape of the rocks in the middle of the picture: erosion has modelled them resulting in many sharp sections.
5. Admire the Tullydermot Waterfalls…
You’ll encounter a lot of mountain streams during your walk on Cuilcagh Mountains and if you look at a detailed map you’ll notice that a lot of them gather in the valley and create the beautiful Tullydermot waterfalls.
6. Take a well-deserved break at Slieve Russell Hotel…
If you go through the village of Ballyconnell, you won’t miss Slieve Russell Hotel where you can sleep, celebrate your wedding or eat if you have the money. If not, you can visit its gardens and have a picnic there.
That’s all for Co. Cavan for now… but we’ll be back 
.
