Benaughlin Mountain, or simply Benaughlin (), is a large hill in the

Cuilcagh Cuilcagh () is a mountain on the border between County Fermanagh (in Northern Ireland) and County Cavan (in the Republic of Ireland). With a height of it is the highest point in both counties. It is also the 170th highest peak on the island of ...

Mountain range in

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It rises to above sea level and its composition is mainly of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and shale. A section of the

Ulster Way The Ulster Way is a series of walking routes which encircles Northern Ireland. It was founded in the 1970s by Wilfrid Merydith Capper, who was inspired by Tom Stephenson's Pennine Way. The route was relaunched in 2009 by the Department of the ...

formerly passed around the side of Benaughlin, within 300 m of the summit until it was revised in 2009 and now instead ascends from Florencecourt. The hill was originally called , which is thought to mean "peak of the speaking horse". Locals would climb the hill on the last Sunday of July for the festival of Lughnasa, and folklore tells of a large white horse () which would appear on the hill each year and speak to them. Benaughlin is also associated with Donn na Binne ("

Donn In Irish mythology, Donn ("the dark one", from cel-x-proto, Dhuosnos) is an ancestor of the Gaels and is believed to have been a god of the dead. Donn is said to dwell in Tech Duinn (the "house of Donn" or "house of the dark one"), where the ...

of the peak"), the legendary ancestor of the Mag Uidhir (

Maguire Maguire ( , also spelled MacGuire or McGuire) is an Irish surname from the Gaelic , which is "son of Odhar" meaning "dun", "dark one". According to legend, this relates to the eleventh descendant of Colla da Chrich, great-grandson of Cormac ma ...

) chiefs of

Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of a ...

and a king of the Sí. He is said to dwell in the mountain, and it was believed that whenever any of his real descendants die, a shard falls off its rocky face. Benaughlin is also known as Bin Mountain to local residents. The

blanket bog Blanket bog or blanket mire, also known as featherbed bog, is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses o ...

which covers Benaughlin was used as a source of fuel for the wealthy landowners in the area who lived in the nearby stately home of

Florence Court Florence Court is a large 18th-century house and estate located 8 miles south-west of Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is set in the foothills of Cuilcagh Mountain. The nearby village is distinguished by the one-word name F ...

. A path known as the Donkey Trail meanders up the side of the mountain; this was the route used for bringing the

turf Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricult ...

down off the mountain side. File:Benaughlin Mountain from Florence Court.jpg, Benaughlin viewed from the

estate in mid-summer File:Benaughlin Mountain - geograph.org.uk - 1453652.jpg, Benaughlin cliff face File:Benaughlin Mountain - geograph.org.uk - 1453570.jpg, Benaughlin summit

References

External links

BBC Northern Ireland - ''Off the Beaten Track''
hike route with map Mountains and hills of County Fermanagh Marilyns of Northern Ireland {{Fermanagh-geo-stub

See also

References

External links