calliagh beara's house Letterbox Hybrid
erik88l-r: Cache is gone, cache owner has not logged on in nine months, so I have archived it for him. Thanks for the past fun.
erik - geocaching.com volunteer cache reviewer
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This is, I believe, Ireland’s first letterbox hybrid cache with its own unique rubber stamp. The finder makes a copy of the stamp on their dairy or log book and leaves a copy of their personal stamp if they have one. If not, leave a thumbprint or pawprint or whatever, or use one of the stickers and leave your log as normal on one of the postcards.
Calliagh Beara’s house is a traditional name for a Neolithic passage tomb on the summit of Slieve Gullion, at 573m the highest in the British Isles. The mystical lake nearby is known as Calliagh Beara’s lough. The Calliagh Beara (Cailleach Bheara or witch/hag of Beara) is a common character of Irish folklore and has associations throughout Ireland particularly with mountains and stone cairns. In one story, Finn McCool was passing the lake when he saw a woman looking sadly into the water. After telling him she lost her ring in the lough, he dived into the water to retrieve it. He found the ring but coming out of the water he was transformed into an old man with snow white hair. The woman was Calliagh Beara in disguise and had put a spell on Finn. In reality the building of the passage tomb took place long before Calliagh Beara’s time, predating the Celts and their language by 2000 years or more.
The passage tomb has a central chamber with a corbelled roof similar to Newgrange. During its excavation in 1961, along with pieces of bone and flint, there were three carved stone basins found, that would have held cremated remains, and gifts for the dead.
The main entrance to Slieve Gullion forest park is well signposted on the Newry to Forkhill road. The climb to the summit is varied and not too difficult, taking about half an hour from the nearest car park and another twenty minutes or so to the cache. Waterproof boots are essential as the path in places is badly eroded and wet in winter. The forest drive of eight miles is one way, continuing for five miles after returning to the car, and may be closed at times of extreme weather for safety.
From the main car park beyond the courtyard centre, head up the one way forest drive for a couple of miles to the car park at N54 07 169 W006 26 625. Up the hill a little, on the other side of the road is the start of a path at N54 07 215 W006 26 617 marked out by occasional posts zigg-zagging up the hillside. Climb to the summit from behind the stone shelter at N54 007 131 W006 26 245. At the stone cairn on the summit find the entrance to the passage tomb at the given coordinates above for the cache.
Position yourself and your gps at the entrance to the passage tomb, which, if it were seen from the cache is positioned at 169 degrees and 695 metres distant. (from the direction arrows beside the trig point it is roughly in the direction of Gosford Castle!).
The final path to the cache is badly eroded and waterlogged in places, though easily passable, but not suitable for young children in winter. The letterbox is in a Tupperware box inside a plastic lunch box containing several other items for trading. Make sure it is not left visible and don’t remove the rubber stamps or inkpad. Have fun!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Uvqqra va n perivpr orarngu n ebj bs ebpxf.
Treasures
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