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 Greenore () is a village, townland and deep water port on Carlingford Lough in County Louth, Ireland. History A lighthouse was built on Greenore Point in 1830. Several decades later, the Dundalk and Greenore Railway Act of 1863 authorised th ...

and the village of

Omeath Omeath (; or ''Uí Meth'') is a village on the Cooley Peninsula in County Louth, Ireland, close to the border with Northern Ireland. It is roughly midway between Dublin and Belfast, very near the County Louth and County Armagh / County Down bo ...

Geography

The peninsula contains the

Cooley Mountains The Cooley Mountains () are on the Cooley Peninsula in northeast County Louth in Ireland. They consist of two ridges running northwest to southeast, separated by the valley of Glenmore with the Big River running through it. Slieve Foy, at ...

, the highest of which,

Slieve Foy Slieve Foy or Slieve Foye ( ga, Sliabh Feá)Slieve Feá/Slieve Foye

, is also the highest peak in County Louth at . To the north is Carlingford Lough and the border with

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 ...

; to the south is

Dundalk Bay Dundalk Bay ( ga, Cuan Dhún Dealgan) is a large (33 km2), exposed estuary on the east coast of Ireland. The inner bay is shallow, sandy and intertidal, though it slopes into a deeper area 2 km from the transitional water boundary.< ...

. The peninsula is ringed by the R173 regional road. The peninsula is geologically diverse, with 440-million-year-old Silurian

greywacke Greywacke or graywacke (German ''grauwacke'', signifying a grey, earthy rock) is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lit ...

sandstones in the northwest and southwest, 340-million-year-old limestones in the east, and 60-million-year-old volcanic rocks forming the Cooley Mountains.

Antiquity

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by Ch ...

, Cooley (

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...

Cúalnge
') was the home of the bull

Donn Cuailnge In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology Donn Cúailnge, the Brown Bull of Cooley, was an extremely fertile stud bull over whom the Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley) was fought. Prologue A ninth century ''rémscéla'' or foretale recount ...

, and the site of 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". Ancient monuments in Cooley include the

Proleek Dolmen Proleek Dolmen is a dolmen (portal tomb) and National Monument located in County Louth, Ireland. Location Proleek Dolmen is northeast of Dundalk, on the west bank of the Ballymascanlan River. History The dolmen dates to the Neolithic, ar ...

,DiscoverIreland.ie
/ref> whose capstone weighs an estimated 35 tons (31.75 tonnes), and a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

gallery grave A gallery grave is a form of megalithic tomb built primarily during the Neolithic Age in Europe in which the main gallery of the tomb is entered without first passing through an antechamber or hallway. There are at least four major types of ga ...

, both near

Ballymascanlan Ballymascanlan (), otherwise Ballymascanlon, is a small village and townland in County Louth, Ireland, situated 4 km north-east of Dundalk on the Cooley Peninsula, on the road to Carlingford. Locale The townland runs down to the coast, an ...

Business

The peninsula is primarily agricultural territory, but is also home to a number of hotels and bed-and-breakfasts, the first new distillery in Ireland in decades, the

Cooley Distillery Cooley Distillery is an Irish whiskey distillery on the Cooley Peninsula in County Louth, Ireland. The distillery was converted in 1987 from an older potato alcohol plant by entrepreneur John Teeling. On 16 December 2011 Beam Inc. announce ...

opened by

John Teeling John James Teeling (born January 1946) is an Irish academic and businessperson, notable for the wide range of businesses he has developed or overhauled over several decades. In particular, he broke the Irish Distillers monopoly which existed ...

on the site of a former potato alcohol factory, several warehouse and logistics facilities, a garden centre, two cafes and other businesses. There is a car-ferry connection to County Down in

at Greenore.

Sport

The local Gaelic football and

ladies' Gaelic football Ladies' Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach na mBan) is a women's team sport. It is the women's equivalent of Gaelic football. Ladies' football is organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. Two teams of 15 players kick or hand-pass a ...

club is

Cooley Kickhams Cooley Kickhams Gaelic Football Club is a Gaelic football and ladies' Gaelic football club based on the Cooley Peninsula, County Louth, Ireland. History The club was founded in 1887 and is named after the Cooley Peninsula on which it stands. ...

, based south of Carlingford.

People

The Cooley Peninsula is the home of current Leinster and Irish rugby players,

Rob Kearney Robert Kearney (born 26 March 1986) is an Irish rugby union former player. He played for 15 years for Leinster followed by a 6 month stint in Australia, playing for Perth based side Western Force. He also played over a decade for the Ireland n ...

and David Kearney. U.S. President Joe Biden has ancestors from the area. He shares a great-grandfather with the Kearney brothers. RTE sports commentator Jimmy Magee (1935-2017) was raised on the Cooley Peninsula.

References

External links

Awarded "EDEN - European Destinations of Excellence" non traditional tourist destination 2008
Peninsulas of County Louth Locations in Táin Bó Cúailnge {{Louth-geo-stub