This is a beautiful 14.5-kilometre walk, through the myths and mythology of Irish history, with witches and heroes, bottomless lakes, holy wells and rag trees. For details of the route see the map and click on the link to Wikiloc:

http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=13261935

Slieve Gullion (from Irish: Sliabh gCuillinn) is a mountain in the south of County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The mountain is the heart of the Ring of Gullion, with an elevation of 573 metres (1,880 ft). At the summit is a small lake and two ancient burial cairns, one of which is the highest surviving passage graves in Ireland.

The walk starts and finishes in the car park adjacent to the Slieve Gullion Courtyard Centre in Slieve Gullion Forest Park. Follow the path uphill from the car park, passing the children’s play area on your left. The path continues uphill through deciduous woodland for about 1km until arriving at a log bench opposite a Ring of Gullion Way marker post. Turn right onto the forest drive and continue uphill through a stand of mature beech trees for 800m. Turn right onto a short section of forest track until the upper forest drive is reached. Turn left on the forest drive and continue along the southern slopes of Slieve Gullion for about 2km until an upper car parking area is reached on the left-hand side.

Turn right fifty metres beyond the parking area up an initially steep mountain path. Continue on over a stile until a stone shelter is reached. The views in this section expand to include the peaks of Slievenacapple and the Ring of Gullion to the North.

Passing to the right of the stone shelter the path becomes steeper, traversing areas of peaty and rocky ground. After 500 metres the path arrives at the summit of Slieve Gullion and the 5000-year-old Neolithic South Cairn Passage Grave, also known as the home of the Calliagh Berra.

The tomb can be entered from just below the summit. Panoramic views from the summit take in the Mourne Mountains, Carlingford Lough, The Cooley Peninsula, the Armagh Drumlins and beyond.

The path continues North-West along the summit plateau arriving at Calliagh Berras Lough after 800m.

I met a local man who had explored the lough in an old-fashioned diving suit.  When he reached the end of his air hose, there was still a long way to go.  Nowadays, the lough is not only officially known as bottomless but, is also linked to the legendary hero Fionn mac Cumhaill. According to one tale, Áine and her sister Milucra both sought after Fionn . When Áine said she would never marry a man with grey hair, Milucra secretly put a spell on the lough, so that anyone who swam in it would emerge as an old person. She enticed him into the water, we are not sure how she did it but, in he went.  He emerged as an old man with grey-white hair. His men, the Fianna, forced her to give him a restorative potion from her cornucopia, but his hair did not return to its true colour.In some versions of the tale, Milucra is revealed to be the Cailleach Bhéirre, an ancient goddess.

Continue past the lough to the North Cairn which is also a Bronze Age burial chamber.  Veer right after passing the North Cairn and continue on the path. Descend for about 2km down the North side of the mountain until reaching the Ballard Road. Turn right along the country lane and follow it as it undulates through the countryside. Keep right after 2km where the road forks and continue to Killevy Old Churches an ancient convent dating from the 5th Century. St Moninna is buried in the churchyard.

St Bline’s Holy Well is on the hillside above. There is a rag tree beside the well where you can hang your problems, in the form of a small piece of cloth and leave them behind.  These sites were not only known to early man but the tree, a fairy thorn,    also gives access to the underworld and the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Continue along the country lane, past Clonlum South Cairn Portal Tomb on the left and Killevy Castle on the right for a further 2km before turning right at a crossroads. Continue through gateposts on to the exit drive from the courtyard centre and the car park.