Looped trail on lower slopes of Croghan Hill.
Raheenleagh (the small grey rath or fort), has hosted many visitors over the years. In prehistoric times it was a burial site. In 1795, miners panned for gold, and in 1798, the United Irish men, returning from the battle of Vinegar Hill, camped beside the trail entrance. The Forde family were the last residents of Raheenleagh hill. Their hard-won mountain farmland provided shelter for their home, their livelihood and also the route for the eight mile walk to the Saturday night dance at Ballycoog. The hard winters of the early 1940s forced the Fordes off the Mountain to lower ground and Coillte has harvested forestry at Raheenleagh since then. Now Coillte, in partnership with the Electricity Supply Board, are also harvesting the power of the wind at Raheenleagh to drive eleven electricity-generating turbines. Become our most recent Raheenleagh visitor, walk alongside the turbines, see the magnificent sea and land views from our viewing points, sit and rest under a turbine blade and listen. You will hear the swish of the wind past the turbine blade and just maybe the faint echo of a happy miner or the footstep and stories of the Fordes, heading home from the dance.
Looped trail on lower slopes of Croghan Hill.
Raheenleagh (the small grey rath or fort), has hosted many visitors over the years. In prehistoric times it was a burial site. In 1795, miners panned for gold, and in 1798, the United Irish men, returning from the battle of Vinegar Hill, camped beside the trail entrance. The Forde family were the last residents of Raheenleagh hill. Their hard-won mountain farmland provided shelter for their home, their livelihood and also the route for the eight mile walk to the Saturday night dance at Ballycoog. The hard winters of the early 1940s forced the Fordes off the Mountain to lower ground and Coillte has harvested forestry at Raheenleagh since then. Now Coillte, in partnership with the Electricity Supply Board, are also harvesting the power of the wind at Raheenleagh to drive eleven electricity-generating turbines. Become our most recent Raheenleagh visitor, walk alongside the turbines, see the magnificent sea and land views from our viewing points, sit and rest under a turbine blade and listen. You will hear the swish of the wind past the turbine blade and just maybe the faint echo of a happy miner or the footstep and stories of the Fordes, heading home from the dance.
