{"id":387697,"date":"2026-04-08T07:22:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T07:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/387697\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T07:22:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T07:22:08","slug":"walking-the-steps-of-irelands-ancient-warriors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/387697\/","title":{"rendered":"walking the steps of Ireland’s ancient warriors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Archaeologist Paul Gosling features alongside presenter Doireann N\u00ed Ghlac\u00e1in in the first episode of the new series of Tracks & Trails, airing on RT\u00c9 One and RT\u00c9 Player on Friday 10th April.<\/p>\n

The show explores the archaeology and mythology of Ireland’s landscape, the forgotten stories that lie hidden in our localities, and the benefits of walking and hiking for mental health.<\/p>\n

Below, Paul talks a hill-walk in one of ‘the east coast’s best kept secrets’.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s walking and there\u2019s hill-walking. The first implies footpaths and tar, the second slopes and grass. To my mind, walking is something I do to clear-the-head, stretch-the-legs, keep our fat dog fit. But hill-walking is something else entirely. It is mental as much as physical, a test of your willingness to put-something-in to get-something-out, an activity that tells the world you can still do it.<\/p>\n

Both require a modicum of forethought but hill-walking more-so, for your choice of hat, coat, leggings, footwear and gloves is more than fashion attire. It is an outer skin to keep you sound and dry. And it should include a walking stick: always a stick, for a stick gives you dignity, status, and a modicum of protection from briars and falls.<\/p>\n

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\nPaul Gosling and Doireann Ni Ghlacain in Slieve Foye Forest Park, Co. Louth<\/p>\n

Living in south Galway, I am regularly drawn to the Burren, those friendly hills (as they seem to me) on the seaboard of north Clare: an upland of light, flowers and megaliths. But when I get the chance, rather when I make the chance, it is to Cooley in north Louth that I am drawn. These too are friendly hills, not too high (300m\/ 900ft), ringed by quiet accessible roads, and serviced by some fine pubs and cafes.<\/p>\n

The uplands of Cooley offer the walker endless viewpoints: of hillslopes, sea and shore, including the widely known Mountains of Mourne, the plains of north Leinster, and if you are blessed, distant views of the Isle of Man.<\/p>\n

There’s walking and there\u2019s hill-walking. The first implies footpaths and tar, the second slopes and grass.<\/p>\n

But Cooley has a layer of attraction that sets it above most other upland trails: T\u00e1in B\u00f3 C\u00faailnge (the cattle-raid of Cooley). This story of a winter raid by Queen Medb of Connacht to capture the best bull in the land, is Ireland\u2019s finest medieval saga: a 1,000-year-old literary epic. And the central part of the T\u00e1in takes place in Cooley, where the rivers, hills and valleys of the peninsula all play a part in the story. As you walk, you can trace the route of Medb\u2019s mythic army as they search and eventually capture the Brown Bull of Cooley (Donn C\u00faailnge).<\/p>\n

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\nArchaeologist Paul Gosling in Slieve Foye Forest Park<\/p>\n

Amongst the landscape highlights is Barnavave (the gap of Medb) above Carlingford. This dramatic hilltop valley was gouged, we are told, by Medb\u2019s warriors as an insult to Ulster, and to mark her audacious bull-theft and despoilation of C\u00faailnge (Cooley).<\/p>\n

The story is most accessible via Thomas Kinsella\u2019s fine translation of the T\u00e1in, and a copy of same ear-marked to pages 97-126 will enrich any hill-walk in one of the east coast\u2019s best kept secrets: the T\u00e1in Trail in Cooley Co. Louth.<\/p>\n

The new series of Tracks & Trails runs from Friday 10th April on RT\u00c9 One at 8.30pm – catch up afterwards via RT\u00c9 Player<\/p>\n

About The Author: Paul Gosling is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Atlantic Technological University, at the Galway City Campus. His article ‘The Route of T\u00e1in B\u00f3 C\u00faailnge in County Louth’ is published in Archaeology Ireland’s Heritage Guide No. 69.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Archaeologist Paul Gosling features alongside presenter Doireann N\u00ed Ghlac\u00e1in in the first episode of the new series of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-387697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}