Cultural Heritage of Ring of Gullion AONB

Farming

Farming is a major activity in the Ring of Gullion with small farms predominating. The best soils in the area are those of the glacial deposits which run in rounded ridges through the lowlands between Slieve Gullion and its ring of hills. In these areas farmland is divided into strips of rectangular fields, each strip originally worked as one farm. In the past many farms would have grown some crops of oats and potatoes but now grassland and cattle dominate. Half of all farm businesses are classified as mainly beef cattle but sheep have become important. The grassland has seen many years of intensive use and very few fields retain a natural diversity of plants, though some wet flushed fields on the lower slopes of the mountains support species rich grassland with marsh and butterfly orchids. Current agricultural policy emphasises the need to achieve a balance between the promotion of a successful agri-food industry and the conservation and enhancement of the countryside. The remarkable countryside of the Ring of Gullion area was designated the Slieve Gullion Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) in June 1994 and is run by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. ESA designation is a voluntary scheme which provides financial encouragement for farmers to adopt farming practices which maintain and enhance the landscape, wildlife and heritage of their land holding.

People and places

Distinctive landscapes, such as the Ring of Gullion, are often the product of a distinctive cultural heritage, an intermingling of the people, their ways of life and the countryside, through history. The people of the Ring of Gullion, in their virtually enclosed frontier position, share cultural traditions closely identified with their home territory. Such is the natural complexity of the area that local areas within the Ring - Mullaghbane, Forkhill, Jonesborough and Killeen - have their own particular characteristics of trade, tradition, folklore, poetry and language. Much can be attributed to the past difficulties in communication between townland communities often separated by mountain, bog or stream. The independent community spirit, most clearly identified with the ceilidh, helped the people through difficult times by sharing labour, pooling resources and providing entertainment. From late medieval times and probably earlier the whole of South Armagh was a notable centre of Irish poetry, and Creggan churchyard is famous as the burial place of poets. Although the use of English was increasing by the 18th century the area was still know as Ceantar na n-Amhran (The District of Songs) and also as Ceantar na bh-Fill (The District of the Poets). Today there is a marked revival of interest in the Irish language, folk singing and story telling.

Legends

The Ring of Gullion has rich associations with Irish legends and myths. In the Táin Bó Cuailgne (the Cattle raid of Cooley) CuChulainin is reputed to have defended Ulster, single-handed, against the hordes of Queen Maeve of Connacht - a battle traditionally associated with the Gap of the North. In another tale, Fionn Mac Cumhaill was bewitched by Miluchra on the summit of Slieve Gullion at the Lough of calliagh Bhirra. To this day the superstition survives that if you bathe in the lough your hair will turn white.