Slieve Coillte is a hill next to the JFK Arboretum in Wexford and is part of the same overall park. It has an access road that has opening and closing times, please see photo. Unlike the JFK Arboretum you don’t have to pay to enter. There are numerous places to park along the 3 km road that leads to the top so its your choice where to start walking. You can even park at the summit if you want.
The summit area is a pleasant grassy field next to the car park. Stunning views are available in all directions. On a clear day you can see Hook Head Lighthouse, Rosslare Ferryport and the Saltee Islands, Waterford City, The Comeraghs, The Galtees (85 kms away), Slievenamon, The Blackstairs, Brandon Hill, and a host of other minor hills, towns and villages.
The pleasant summit includes a board pointing out the many distant mountains and their names. There is also a 1798 memorial stone at the summit which states: 'The rebels camped on Slieve Coillte from the 7th to 10th June. Bagenal Harvey resigned his command here. He was succeeded by Fr Philip Roche. A detachment under the command of Thomas Cloney attacked the gunboats on the river Barrow at Fisherstown.' This odd, stilted account no doubt refers to a meaningful episode of the 1798 Rebellion, but is rather brief and further research reveals a far more involved episode involving the rebels on Slieve Coillte.
Earlier history of the hill seems to blend in with myth and mythology and cosmic alignments with Newgrange getting a mention along the way.
The following is a quote from the local historian, Simon W Kennedy, about the area – 'Historians have ignored or have not known the significance of place names including Kilmokea, Whitechurch and Slieve Coillte as the first and foremost place of ancient priority and importance in the Irish experience,' said Simon.
'Whitechurch was the site of an ancient temple known as the Temple of Brightness, nearby Kilmokea or Mileadoc was the spot at which Cessair the granddaughter of Noah, escaping the flood, made the first incursion or invasion into Ireland, and Sliabh Coillte was where the first invasion of Ireland took place in 2242 B.C.,' he explained.
'Historians have up to now failed to join the dots in tracing Sliabh Coillte's central connection with Irish mythology, its association with Kilmokea, the confluence of the Three Sisters - the Barrow, the Nore and Suir - an amazing alignment of standing stones, the true translation of local place names and their meaning in the context of the rise and setting of the sun, folklore and topography,' he added.
The cache is a traditional hide about half ways up the hill. It is a straight forward hide with loads of nearby parking. It is hidden and should be found using Coillte's principles of Leave No Trace.