Uisneach is one of the most historic hills in Ireland, yet there are
probably not five per cent. of the people of Ireland that have ever heard
of it, and not one per cent. of them that has ever seen it. Apart even
from its historic interest, it is well worth seeing, for it is not only a
beautiful hill, but it affords from its summit one of the most extensive
and lovely views in Ireland. The hill of Uisneach is in the Barony of
Rathconrath, County Westmeath, and only about four Irish miles from
Streamstown Station on the Midland Great Western Railway, so that it is
easily reached. There is, unfortunately, no hotel where tourists could be
accommodated nearer to it than Moat, which is about eight Irish miles from
it; and Mullingar is about the same distance. The village of Ballymore is
five miles from the hill, but as there is no hotel there, Moat and
Mullingar are the only towns within any moderate distance of it where
tourists could get either lodgings or meals. It is not certain if even a
car could be hired at Streamstown or near it, consequently those wishing
to visit Uisneach should either have a private conveyance or make up their
minds to "do it" on foot.
Uisneach is one of the most peculiarly-shaped hills in Ireland. It is only
six hundred feet in height--a fair elevation in a part of the country
where there are no mountains--but no matter from what side it is
approached, it cannot be seen until one is almost at its base. The country
immediately around it is so broken and so cut up by many hills and hollows
of almost all shapes, that Uisneach, the highest of all the hills near it,
can hardly be noticed until one is just at it. A public road runs close to
its base, so there is no difficulty in reaching it, and the ascent is by
no means steep. It is not until one is on the top of Uisneach that he
finds out how high it is, for the view from its summit is extensive and
beautiful almost beyond power of description. The country on every side of
it consists of some of the richest pasture lands, not only in Ireland, but
in the world. No matter in what direction one looks, a vast, undulated
expanse of green meets the eye. If the view from Uisneach is seen in
autumn, when the too few and far between grain-fields are turning yellow,
it is as fair a sight as human eye ever gazed on. The country for scores
of miles on every side is so rich, so green, and so varied with hill,
dale, wood, and water, that the Biblical phrase that is applied to parts
of Palestine, "the garden of the Lord," might well be applied to the land
round this hill. But it is safe to say that no Israelite ever gazed from
Gilboa or Carmel on so fair a prospect. The vast extent of the view from
this hill seems out of all proportion with its moderate height. On a clear
day one can very nearly see from the Irish Channel to Galway Bay. The
Wicklow hills seem close by. The mountains, not only of Cavan, but of
Leitrim, are distinctly visible. On every side, save the south-west, the
prospect is what some would be tempted to call boundless. On the
south-west the view is obstructed by the hill of Knock Cosgrey, an
eminence slightly higher than Uisneach, and one of the most beautiful
hills in Ireland. It is about four miles south-west of Uisneach. Unlike
Uisneach, however, it is, seen from a distance, both striking and bold. It
has the misfortune to be called by so many different names, or rather, its
name is pronounced in so many different ways, that strangers are often
sadly puzzled what to call it. It is called Kunna Kostha and Kruck Kostha
by the peasantry, and by the gentlefolk generally Knock Ash. But its
proper name is _Cnoc Cosgraigh_, and is so written by the Four Masters,
who are, undoubtedly, the highest authority we possess on place names.
Seen from the road from Moat to Ballymahon, Knock Cosgrey is one of the
most charming sights imaginable. It is nearly a mile from top to base, and
forms a green pyramid of almost perfect symmetry. Its surface is entirely
under grass; for this part of Ireland has been largely turned into
pastures; and sometimes one may drive for six miles and not see a field of
grain. "The bold peasantry" of whom Goldsmith speaks in his "Deserted
Village" have become so few in these parts that miles may be travelled at
mid-day through as fine a country as there is in the world without meeting
a human being. Sheep and cattle, and not men and women, seem the
prevailing living creatures. Knock Cosgrey is not only higher than
Uisneach, but more near the true geographical centre of the island; but it
possesses hardly any historic interest from the fact that its summit was
too narrow to allow the ancient Irish either to build or assemble on it.
Uisneach, with its over a hundred acres of nearly level land on its top,
was therefore chosen, for a hundred thousand men could find space on it.
It became, for that reason, one of the most historic, and in ancient times
one of the most celebrated, hills in Ireland.
There is probably not another hill in Ireland so well adapted both for a
place for assemblies and a site for building as Uisneach. Its summit is
extensive. There are springs of the purest water on it. Plenty of stones
of almost every size abound, and the soil, even in the most elevated
parts, is of great fertility. In the troublesome times of yore, Uisneach
possessed advantages that were most important in its elevation, and the
extensive view it commanded; for they made it impossible for an army to
approach it from any side without being seen by the watchers on its top.
From the many advantages that this beautiful and extraordinary hill
possesses, it seems strange that it was not chosen by the ancient Irish
for a place of central government. It would have been even better suited
for such a purpose than Tara. It probably would have been the chief seat
of ancient Irish sovereignty if it had not been that the mistake made in
selecting Tara instead of it, occurred so far back in what may be called
prehistoric times, and antiquity had given Tara such a prestige that it
continued to be the most important place in Ireland until it was
abandoned as a seat of government in the sixth century. But Uisneach was
also used as a place of residence by the Irish over-kings. That they
sometimes resided there can be proved from ancient Gaelic writings. It was
supposed to be the geographical centre of Ireland, and before the
formation of the province of Meath by the over-king, Tuathal, in the early
part of the second century, the four provinces met at Uisneach Hill. It is
curious what a close guess the ancients made to locate the exact centre of
the island. They seem, however, to have placed it four or five miles too
far to the north-east, for, according to the most recent surveys, the hill
of Knock Cosgrey is in the exact geographical centre of Ireland. In
far-back ancient times, before the province of Meath had been formed by
taking parts of the four original provinces, the hill of Uisneach was in
Connacht. This almost exact quaternal division of Ireland into provinces,
and their meeting at a point that was supposed to be the exact centre of
the island, is a very curious and interesting feature in ancient Irish
polity. In other countries, provinces seem to have originated by mere
accident, some being big, and some little; but in Ireland they seem to
have been laid out by line and rule, for the four provinces that met at
Uisneach must have been very nearly of equal area. The celebrated Cat
Stone on the hill of Uisneach was known from remote antiquity as _Ail na
Mireann_, or "the rock of the divisions," because the four provinces met
at it. This rock was known by this name among the peasantry of the
neighbourhood up to recent times, until Irish became a dead language in
this part of the country.
Ail na Mireann, or, as it is now called, the Cat Stone, is the greatest
curiosity on Uisneach Hill. It is not on the top of the hill, but on its
side. It is, perhaps, the most puzzling rock in Ireland, for it is hard to
say whether it was placed in its present position by an iceberg in the
glacial age, or whether it was placed there by human agency, and intended
for a rude cromlech. Here is what the eminent scholar and antiquarian,
John O'Donovan, says about it in his yet unpublished letters when he was
on the Government Survey of Ireland in 1837:--"The huge rock on this hill
of Uisneach, a part of which was split and formed into a cromlech, is now
called the Cat Stone, from a supposed resemblance to a cat sitting and
watching a mouse." If this stone is a cromlech, or Druid's altar, it is
unlike anything of the kind found elsewhere in Ireland or other
countries, for the four upright stones which usually support the flat one,
are not to be seen here. The weight of this enormous mass of stone can
hardly be less than twenty tons, and if it was put in its present position
by human agency, it is by far the most extraordinary thing of its kind in
Ireland. But a majority of those who see it think that it is merely a
boulder of peculiar shape. If it is a boulder it is a very extraordinary
one, and if it is a cromlech it is a more extraordinary one still.
It was on Uisneach Hill, or in its immediate vicinity, that the
ecclesiastical synod met in the year 1111. This great meeting is mentioned
in almost all Irish annals. It was attended by fifty bishops, three
hundred priests, and upwards of three thousand students, and by the nobles
of the southern half of Ireland, with Muircheartach O'Briain, King of
Munster, at their head. We are told that the synod was convened to
regulate the manners and mode of living of both clergy and laity. It does
not seem to have done much good on account of the then chaotic political
state of the country, caused by almost constant wars between the aspirants
for chief kingship.
There are many interesting things besides the cromlech to be seen on the
vast undulated summit of Uisneach. There is a hollow known as St
Patrick's bed, and there are the remains of the walls of large stone
buildings on the most elevated part of the hill. There is also one of the
finest raths in Ireland, which must have been a place of great strength,
for the embankments are still of immense height, and are overgrown with
hawthorn bushes of great size. This rath, unlike the generality of such
structures, is not round, but oblong. It encloses a space of nearly an
acre in extent.
Apart from antiquarianism, the hill of Uisneach is well worth seeing, for
it is as strange in shape as it is beautiful in verdure. It is only a few
miles from a railroad; it is easy to ascend, for a carriage might be
driven to its summit. The longest summer day might be passed on it, and
some new curiosity of antiquity or some fresh beauty of scenery be
continually discovered. The surface of the hill is so broken, and is of
such great extent, that to explore it thoroughly, and to enjoy all the
varied prospects to be seen from it, even a long summer day would hardly
be long enough.
[Illustration: MOUNT OF BALLYLOCHLOE.]
When treating of hills and of the country in the vicinity of Uisneach, it
may be interesting to say something about the most beautiful and
perfect _artificial_ hill in Ireland--namely, the Moat of Ballylochloe. It
is about nine miles west of Uisneach, and three north-west of Moat. It was
evidently erected for a sepulchral mound, but seems to have also been used
as a place of defence. A ridge of sand-hills has been cut, and a most
perfect and symmetrical _moat_ has been formed. It cannot be less than a
hundred and fifty feet in height. When seen from the road approaching it
from the east, it is almost Alpine in appearance, and looks like a small
mountain. Neither history nor legend throws much light on the origin of
this gigantic mound. We are told, however, that in the time of Queen
Meave, about the year 50 B.C., there was a terrible battle in a place
called Cloch Bruighne, now called Cloch Brian, some two miles from where
the moat now stands, in which battle a wealthy farmer called Da Choga was
killed, and his house burned. His wife, whose name was Lucha, died of
grief, and was buried, it is said, near Loch Lucha, which seems to have
been called after her. In Irish, the name of this place is _Baile Loch
Lucha_. From the fact of the name of the wife of the farmer, or _bruighe_,
being contained in the name of the stead, the late Mr W. M. Hennessy, an
excellent authority on such matters, thought that the mound was erected
over the remains of the woman Lucha. In former times, there was a small
lake at the foot of the moat, hence the modern name Ballylochloe.
This beautiful artificial hill is well worth seeing. It is only three
miles from the railway station at Moat.