Slieve Gullion And Gosford Forest Park: Day 9 – Ireland 2014

24 March 2020

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17 April 2014

After a few more goodbyes, we headed to the airport early in the morning to pick up our rental car. He was a little Ford KA (which we immediately decided stood for Kick-Ass), and we named him Rowan Finneous McCool. He was a great little car! We jumped in, slightly terrified at driving a standard on the opposite side of the car and road, and headed off for our adventure. In short, we were on the road!

Sevenwaters

Our first stop after breaking from the group was not by chance. About a year before our trip, I stumbled upon the best yard sale EVER and bought about 200 books for $10. Among the many boxes was a book called The Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier. I didn’t want to read it right away because it was part of the Sevenwaters Trilogy and I didn’t want to commit to that many books. (Turns out there are 6 books, by the way, not just 3.)

When I finally broke down and started reading the first book, I was hooked.

The series takes place in Ireland during the early medieval time period and is based on a traditional Irish folktale. After tearing through all six books, I dug deeper into the author and found out that there was a park in Ireland that held inspiration for her. It was where she based the seat of the main family in the books. In modern-day Ireland, this was where their castle would have been. This park was Slieve Gullion Forest Park. I. HAD. TO. GO.

Slieve Gullion

I’m not gonna lie, I fell in love with Slieve Gullion Forest Park from the moment we turned onto the drive leading into the property. There is something about the forest that feels ancient and full of magic. Seriously, I love this place. It is my favorite park IN THE WORLD!

We started on the walking trail, which is about 1 mile long and wide enough for easy passing if you are going faster or slower than others. It winds through the forest park and is a rather easy walk. The trees tower above and the moss is so thick over every surface that the forest seems to glow with it. The whole place feels alive, like fairies and creatures are hiding behind every leaf and under every stone. On that day, Sevenwaters came to life for me. Pure magic.

Along the trail, amongst the magic.

After we finished walking the woodland trail, we explored near the entrance area where we had parked. There were so many parts of this area of the park that made me feel as though I were walking in Mary Lennox’s shoes from The Secret Garden. There were tons of flowers and even a duck pond because nothing is complete without some adorable ducks!

The Scenic Drive

When you leave Slieve Gullion Forest Park, you have the option to take the 10km scenic drive around the mountain. It’s a gorgeous drive and I absolutely recommend you take it if you get the chance. The views are to die for!

The Calliagh Berra's Lake in Slieve Gullion Forest Park. — Looking over at the Calliagh Berra’s Lake atop Slieve Gullion,

Partway through the drive, we pulled off and parked. Turns out there is a hiking trail that cuts straight through to the top of the mountain. It didn’t seem that far from the car park, so we decided to hop out and give it a go. It was a pretty decent climb, but it was beautiful. The views, again, are stunning. And once at the top, you can glance over and see The Calliagh Berra’s lake. This is the lake where Fionn Mac Cumhaill was turned into an old man after being tricked into the water by a witch, the Calliagh Berra. But don’t worry, she was forced to make him young again!

While we had started our trek in beautiful sunshine, the weather quickly turned to rain when we reached the summit. We stayed for a few minutes before heading back down to the warmth and dryness of our trusty stead, Rowan. Naturally, as soon as we got back down, the rain stopped and the sun returned. That’s Irish weather for you!

Views from the scenic drive and hike.

Fun fact: Billy would propose to me, just outside of that stand of trees in the last two photos, four years after our first visit.

Gosford Forest Park

Our second and final stop for the day was the lovely Gosford Forest Park. Located in Markethill, Gosford Forest Park offers many walking trails, camping, a walled garden, and a privately owned mock Norman castle. You can guess which part Billy wanted to take home…

Exhibit A: A Man In Love

Billy in love with the castle in Gosford Forest Park, after visiting Slieve Gullion Forest Park.

Billy getting the tent ready in Gosford Forest Park after our visit to Slieve Gullion Forest Park — Billy getting the tent ready.

Our first order of business was setting up camp. It didn’t take us too long to get the tent up (see what we use here), so we decided to explore Gosford Park in what daylight we had left. We had a good hour or two and we took full advantage. We checked out the beautiful walled garden and stumbled upon the castle, which we hadn’t known was there. It was a wonderful surprise! After a full day, we were more than ready to get some shut-eye before starting again in the morning. We lounged in our tent, taking in the beautiful view until darkness fell and sleep swept us away.