Walk of the Week: Ups and downs on road to Hag of Beara

Lough Fada and Hag of Beara

THE waymarked Beara Way follows the signpost toward Lough Fada. We walk west on the coast road. The views are, immediately spectacular, Coulagh Bay below the road, the Quay with fishing boats to the east, low-lying Eyeries Island and, beyond, the high mountains of Miskish and Knockgour. The road is all ups and downs. Illaunnameanla island, close to shore, is below us, a favourite of harbour seals. A solitary electricity pole carries power to a navigation marker.

Our first stop is The Hag of Beara. “One of the oldest mythological beings associated with Ireland”, the iron plaque at the gate says. The legend says this is the head of the pre-Christian goddess, An Cailleach Bhéarra, turned to stone as she waited for her lover, Mannanan Mac Lir, the sea god. The rock is time- and weather-worn. In some legends, the Cailleach was the goddess without whose endorsement a king could not be crowned; in others, she is the shaper of the landscape of bays and mountains. Visitors leave trinkets on the rock, coins, keyrings, shells; the appearance is that of a pattern tree. The plaque records her enmity with Saint Caitiaran who brought Christianity to the region, and a post-Christian legend says it was he who turned her to stone.