A small container at an interesting junction point between different versions of this walk.
You don’t find too many woodland or forest areas in east Cork. In that part of the county the ridge and valley topography of Munster has been eroded down to create a benign landscape with rich soils. Inevitably the original woodland cover has been stripped away over the centuries to create a rich pastoral setting. One spot where a vestige of the ancient woodland has survived is tucked away behind the village of Killeagh. Here the deep gorge of the Dissour River has sides too steep for agriculture and so no clearance occurred; a happy circumstance helped by being in the ownership of the same family for more than 800 years. It was granted to Phillip de Capell in 1172 and the estate survived through centuries of wars and confiscations.
The majority of the site is owned by Coillte, with a part owned by Glenbower Wood and Lake Ltd, a voluntary community organisation.
The lake referred to in the title was constructed in the middle of the 19th century to provide power to the corn mills at Killagh. It was drained in the 1980s due to safety concerns; it is hoped to reinstate it at some stage if funds become available. A nearby the gz plaque celebrates Richard John Uniacke and an interesting Nova Scotia connection.
For an interesting little detour add a trip to the ‘well’. Fainin’s Well lies in the middle of the woods and very near gz. A path has recently been cleared to make access easier. After passing the metal bridge (CO066-048) complete with castellated columns, signs for the well started to appear high up in the trees. It’s a fair walk and we had to had to climb over, duck under and skirt round many fallen trees, going deeper into the woodland. The well is in a small clearing on a high point and is in fact a bullaun stone, a rather an impressive one with a neat, smooth, circular scoop carved out of the freestanding stone. The water within, like that of many bullauns, is said to be excellent for the curing of warts – in fact the name of the well, Fainin’s Well, means Wart Well, a corruption of faithne, Irish for wart. Nearby is another interesting stone, once used as a Mass Rock. Of special interest is the ledge for kneeling and the socket that once held a cross.
It is fitting that such an historic walk should have a celebrated hostelry at its terminus. “The Old Thatch” is one of the oldest licensed premises in the country, with its present proprietors, the Sweeney family, able to trace ownership back to the mid 1700s. It provides a warm welcome for walkers and hot chocolate for kid-cachers.
There are many routes to this cache, some less muddy (but rather road-like) than others. Descend from the car park for a woodland trail or stay on the roadway from the car park to avoid mud.
The cache itself is a small little thing which may take some finding, especially for inexperienced cachers!
You DO NOT need to get wet. The gz is high - take care! BYOP & a tweezers would be very useful!