The name Keshcorran most likely means the Harp of Corran. In ancient Ireland ‘ceis’ was a harp-fastener. Corran was a Harper for the Tuatha de Danann. Legend says a woman named Deirdre was transformed into a sow after eating enchanted acorns. She went on a rampage causing death and destruction. It was Corran the Harper who lulled the sow to sleep with his beautiful harping. The sow was then killed and its body turned into the hill we call Keshcorran today.
There are 17 caves in a stretch of limestone cliffs on the west side of the hill. These are the Caves of Kesh and can be reached from the road at
KsCor Cv (G70332 12232) where there is room for three cars. The walk up to the caves will take 15 minutes. Reasonable care is needed on the steep grassy slope, although a path for most of the walk helps greatly. The caves have a great location half way up the hill at the base of a cliff. Dripping roofs and some mucky underfoot conditions prevail! The largest cave is known as Cormac’s Cave. Cormac Mac Art was born on the mountain, and then snatched by a she-wolf who raised him in the caves. He later emerged to become Ireland’s mightiest High King. Due to this association with Cormac the hill is also known as King’s Mountain. Some believe that Cormac’s soldiers are still asleep inside Keshcorran waiting to reemerge when Ireland needs them.
The caves are said to be connected to Oweynagat, or Hellmouth Cave, many miles away. In 1779 a draughtsman related the following tale about one of the caves: "The cave is said to communicate with that in the county of Roscommon, twenty-four miles in distance, called the Hellmouth door of Ireland.. it is told (and believed in both counties) that a woman in the county of Roscommon having an unruly calf could never get him home unless driving him by holding him by the tail; that one day he tried to escape and dragged the woman, against her will into the Hellmouth door; unable to stop him she ran after him without quitting her hold, and continued running until next morning. She came out at Kishcorren, to her own amazement and that of the neighbouring people." From the Diary of GABRIEL BERANGER, 1779
Excavations have revealed remains of arctic lemming, wolf, bear and elk. Few human remains have been found, leading some to believe that the caves were held in either great fear or as sacred places. Among the scarce human remains there were a number of human teeth radiocarbon dated to the early Iron Age (200 BCE – 30 CE).
I reached the summit by heading left (NW) from the caves until a fence. I hand railed this steeply uphill. The ground was short grass, followed by energy sapping heather. There is a large cairn where Fionn Mac Cumhal used to sit and follow the progress of his hunts. The views are fabulous, including Croagh Patrick & Ben Bulben. This is a dramatic hill with a lot to offer those with the time to explore and the imagination to visualise the past.
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