Cooley Peninsula
The Cooley Peninsula (, older ''Cúalṅge'') is a hilly peninsula in the north of County Louth on the east coast of Ireland; the peninsula includes the small town of Carlingford, the port of Greenore and the village of Omeath.
Geography
T ...
in northeast
County Louth
County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...
in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. They consist of two ridges running northwest to southeast, separated by the valley of Glenmore with the Big River running through it.
, at , is the highest peak of the range and the highest in County Louth. It is on the eastern ridge, which is about long and also includes the peaks of The Eagles Rock (528m), The Ravens Rock (457m), The Foxes Rock (404m), and Barnavave (350m). This latter name comes from ''Bearna Mhéabha'' (Maeve's Gap), and refers to the legendary Queen
Medb
Medb (), later spelled Meadhbh (), Méibh () and Méabh (), and often anglicised as Maeve ( ), is queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Her husband in the core stories of the cycle is Ailill mac Máta, although she had seve ...
(Maeve), whose army is said to have dug a pass through the mountain.
The western ridge is made up of
Clermont Carn
Clermont Carn (), also known as Black Mountain, is a mountain that rises to in the Cooley Mountains of County Louth, Ireland. It is at the border with Northern Ireland, and is also the location of the Clermont Carn transmission site. The moun ...
(510 m), Carnavaddy (475m) and Slievenaglogh (310m).
The mountains are the mythical home of
hurling
Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...
as told in the ''
Táin Bó Cúailnge
(Modern ; "the driving-off of the cows of Cooley"), commonly known as ''The Táin'' or less commonly as ''The Cattle Raid of Cooley'', is an epic from Irish mythology. It is often called "The Irish Iliad", although like most other early Iri ...
'' (Cattle Raid of Cooley), when Sétanta traveled through the mountains hitting his '' sliothar'' (ball) before him on his way to
Emain Macha
Navan Fort ( sga, Emain Macha ; ga, Eamhain Mhacha, label=Modern Irish ) is an ancient ceremonial monument near Armagh, Northern Ireland. According to tradition it was one of the great royal sites of pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland and the cap ...
. This feat is re-enacted every year in the
All-Ireland Poc Fada Championship
The All-Ireland Poc Fada Hurling & Camogie Championships is an annual tournament testing the skills of Ireland's best hurlers and camogie players. ''Poc Fada'' is Irish for "long puck". The championships are sponsored by Martin Donnelly (who has ...