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Our walk tomorrow, Saturday 17th of August finishes at John Long’s Pub in Grange, one of the few remaining thatched properties in the Cooley area. It first opened, we believe, in 1757  and over the years the business has been passed down through generations of the same family. We are sure to get a warm welcome and we look forward to a late afternoon/evening of food and music!!

We will leave from our home base, Gap O’ the North at 11.30 sharp.  Our starting point is in Ravensdale and our bus will drop us off, from there we will walk to the door of John Long’s… a 15 km or so walk, we estimate taking 4/4.5 hours. We are expecting 35/40 people, so the craic is sure to be mighty… and if you want to continue later into the night our bus will drop everyone back to the Gap O’ the North around 8 pm where undoubtedly the craic will continue well into the wee hours!!

All walkers will need walking boots, waterproof jacket and a packed lunch. As the bus won’t be waiting on us anyone wanting to take a change of clothes will need to carry them in their ruck sack. We recommend placing into a waterproof liner, or alternatively use a black refuse bag as a liner, cheaper and just as effective.

Cost is £25 or 30 Euro, this includes bus, BBQ and music in John Long’s. All are welcome… it is a longish walk, on a mixture of track, open hill side and a 2/3 km road section, if you are interested and haven’t already, send us a message via our Facebook page or email gaponorth@gmail.com

One of the stops on our walk this Saturday, 17th of August will be the deserted village. A group of houses which through the Griffiths Valuation map (circa 1858), can be attributed to the families of: Maguire, Donnelly and Flynn. Each family held an arable plot of around a quarter of an acre and had access to “The Commons” for grazing.

Interestingly, there is a strange little structure built deep into a stone wall. We’ve seen it described as a “well built dog kennel”… but its widely recognised to be a “sweat house”. There are recordings of similar structures in other areas and its believed they have their origins in the Bronze Age. Their use may have had a ritual or religious significance, one suggestion is that they were used by the menfolk to remove all smells before they went out hunting!

Dog kennel or sweat house??? Why not join us and make up your own mind…

We leave by bus from The Gap O’the North Pub, Jonesborough at 11.30 sharp for our starting point. The walk is a 15 km track starting in Ravensdale, taking the forest trails across Moneycrockroe, descending into the valley on the other side where we pick up the road for 2/3 km before reaching Glenmore, Barnavave and the deserted village. From there we will take the Mass Trails into Grange, for a BBQ and evening of “craic agus ceol” in John Long’s Pub. We will return by bus at 8 pm to The Gap O’ the North, where undoubtedly the craic will continue until the wee hours!

Expect to be walking for 4/4.5 hours, and as usual all walkers must have walking boots, a water/wind proof jacket and a packed lunch.

Cost is £25 or 30 Euros which includes bus to and from Gap O’ the North, Jonesborough,  BBQ and music in the fabulous John Long’s pub in Grange! There are a few places left, so if you are interested you would need to get your name and money to us asap! Send us a message via our Facebook page or email gaponorth@gmail.com

Please note there will be no Sunday walk on the 18th …we’ll be too tired after our long walk and late night’s craic… but we’ll be back to a Sunday walk as normal on Sunday, 1st of September when we’ll be walking in the Ring of Gullion.

 Our next walk is Saturday, 17th of August, our Summer Social Event. The walk is a 15 km track starting in Ravensdale, taking the forest trails across Moneycrockroe, descending into the valley on the other side where we pick up the road for 2/3 km before reaching Glenmore, Barnavave and the deserted famine village. From there we will take the Mass Trails into Grange, for a BBQ and evening of “craic agus ceol” in John Long’s Pub.

The walk will be 4/4.5 hours, and as usual all walkers must have walking boots, a water/wind proof jacket and a packed lunch.

Cost is £25 or 30 Euros which includes bus to and from Gap O’ the North, Jonesborough,  BBQ and music in the fabulous John Long’s pub in Grange! There are only a couple of places left, so if you are interested you would need to get your name and money to us asap! Send us a message via our Facebook page or email gaponorth@gmail.com

Please note there will be no Sunday walk that weekend…we’ll be too tired after our long walk and late night’s craic… but we’ll be back to a Sunday walk as normal on Sunday, 1st of September when we’ll be walking in the Ring of Gullion.

We are walking in the Mournes this Sunday, 17th of February, taking in Pierce’s Castle an outcrop of granite overlooking the Rocky Water valley with spectacular views out over Hilltown and beyond.

We will have 2 walks, a B and a C, varying in pace and distance. New walkers are very welcome, but must walk with our C Group for their first walk with us.

All walkers should meet at the Gap o’the North at 10 am for registration and a walks/safety briefing. Walkers must have walking boots and a waterproof jacket, we would also recommend walking poles and gaiters. Bring a packed lunch. Both Walks will be around 4/4.5 hours on open hillside, (remember to allow travel time of approx 1 hour to and from our walks’ starting points).

Members please note …A.G.M takes place on Sunday, 3rd of March following our walk on that day and is open to all fully paid up members.

Membership will be up for renewal on that date, cost remains at £20 or 25 Euro. 

Join us this Sunday, 3rd Of February when we will have 2 Groups out taking different routes to the Cailleach Beara’s Lake and the North Cairn on Slieve Gullion.

Walk information is as follows:

B Group Walk: is an initial steep climb involving a scramble over rough and wet terrain following a stone ditch to the summit. B walkers note this is not our usual “Famine Wall route” but a route we have not taken before…

C Group Walk: will take the route known locally as ” Up the Wire”, which will lead directly to the Cailleach Beara’s lake. This is also across rough and wet ground.

Both groups will cross the summit from the lake, to the remains of the North Cairn and descend following first the Ballard track and then cutting across the bog by our own self styled “kesh” back to the cars. Both groups will be out for 3.5/4 hours, walking around 9 km, climbing around 450 m.

All walkers should meet at the Gap O’ the North Pub, Jonesborough, at 10 am for a safety briefing and registration. New walkers are always welcome but must walk with our C Group for their first walk. Walkers all need : walking boots, a waterproof jacket and a packed lunch. We recommend walking poles and gaiters.

To find out were the lake on the summit gets its name follow the link below:

https://www.ringofgullion.org/stories/the-calliagh-berras-lake/