Caher Valley

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View of the valley from the western hillside in Lisheeneagh townland
Nature reserve

The Caher Valley ( Irish Gleann na Cathrach ) is located in the northwest of the Burren in County Clare in Ireland . It is crossed by the Caher River ( Abhainn na Cathrach ). The names of the river and valley come from the numerous stone ring forts in the area, known as Caher ( Irish Cathair ).

The Caher River ( Irish Abhainn na Cathrach ), which is unusually rich in water for the region, has its source at Slieve Elva ( Irish Sliabh Eilbhe ). It is the only surface river in the Burren , the remaining flowing waters seep into the karst . Some of them form turloughs seasonally . The long-distance hiking trail Burren Way , also known as "The Green Road", crosses the valley at Formoyle. The Cahertal is a nature reserve with vegetation that is otherwise untypical for the Burren.

The stone forts

The forts Cathair Dhoire na bhFathach and Cathair an Aird Rois ( English called Caher Upper and Caher Lower ) lie on both sides of the valley. Caherbannagh ( Irish Cathair Bheannach ) is located near the village ruin of the same name, which only consists of the walls and chimneys of the houses. The village was abandoned in the middle of the 19th century during the Great Famine . From the Caheranardurrish (( Irish Cathair an Árd dorais ) with its preserved gate, on the hill above Formoyle, one overlooks the north-west of the Burren. Close by are the Cahers of Feenagh and Lismacsheedy, a semicircular Promontory fort on a broken edge. Caheranardurrish has partially Reconstructed walls three meters high and equally wide. It appears to have been in use longer than the rest of the Cahers. Sources say the 36 meter circle was used as both a penal chapel and a sheebeen (illegal serving of black alcohol) .

  • Cahir Valley

  • Cahir River near the Kyber Pass

  • View of the valley from Derrynavagh townland

  • Cathair to Aird Rois

  • Faunarooska Wedge Tomb

  • Faunarooska Wedge Tomb

The Wedge Tombs

The Wedge Tombs of Faunarooska on the ridge to the neighboring valley to the east. The Wedge Tomb of Derrynavahagh (Irish Doire na bhFathach - the oak forest of the giants) is one of the best preserved in Ireland. It is 120 meters above the Caher River on one level. The chamber is covered by a massive stone slab. The wedge-shaped floor plan narrows, as is usual with this type of system, in the east. A remnant of the former Cairn is the low stone mound southwest of the complex. To the southeast of Derrynavahagh lie two wedge tombs in the townland of Faunarooska ( Fán an Rúsca ) on the ridge to the neighboring valley . Wedge tombs are double-walled, aisle-free, mostly undivided megalithic buildings from the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age in Ireland.

Cult places and churches

Where the river crosses under the road, there is a Burnt Mound (ir. Fulacht fiadh ) on the south side of the bridge . Near the north side, 30 meters uphill, is a very small crude building, Fermoyle's Penal Church. Inside there is a porthole and an altar stone . Further up on the hill is the Cillin , the burial place for the unbaptized children of the valley. At the Formoyle Church (now in ruins) Donogh O'Brien gathered his troops in 1317 before going to battle at Corcomroe Abbey . At the west entrance of the valley, popularly known as the “Khyber Pass” , near the village of Fanore, there is St. Patrick's Church. The church, built in 1870, is a single-cell building with a small sacristy.

literature

  • George Cunningham: Burren Journey West Limerick 1980

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ruaidhrí de Valera, Seán Ó Nualláin: Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland, Volume I, County Clare . Stationery Office, Dublin 1961, p. 3–4 ( archeology.ie [PDF]).

Coordinates: 53 ° 6 ′ 31 ″  N , 9 ° 14 ′ 8 ″  W.