Cuilcagh () is a mountain on the border between County Fermanagh (in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

) and

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...

(in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

). With a height of it is the highest point in both counties. It is also the 170th highest peak on the island of Ireland, and Ireland's only

cross-border Borders are generally defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ...

county top. Water from the southern slope flows underground until it emerges some miles away in the Shannon Pot, the traditional source of the River Shannon. The area is sometimes referred to as the Cuilcagh Mountains.

Naming

The name Cuilcagh comes from the Irish ''Cuilceach'', which has been translated as "chalky". However, the mountain is mainly sandstone and shale, covered with bog and heather. The cliff-edged summit surface of the mountain is formed from the hard-wearing Lackagh Sandstone which itself overlies the Briscloonagh Sandstone. "It is possible that the name refers to the limestone rock on the lower northern flanks, namely the Glencar and Dartry Limestone formations. Here a number of streams disappear below ground at swallow holes named Cats Hole, Pollawaddy, Pollasumera and Polliniska, all forming part of the Marble Arch cave system. If so, the name would mean ' calcareous' rather than 'chalky.Tempan, Paul
Irish Hill and Mountain Names
MountainViews.ie. It has also been called Slieve Cuilcagh in English, 'Slieve' being an anglicisation of ''Sliabh'' ("mountain"). In the 1609 Plantation of Ulster, Cuilcagh formed part of lands which were granted to John Sandford of Castle Doe by letters patent dated 7 July 1613 (Pat. 11 James I – LXXI – 38, ''Quilkagh''). It was later sold by Sandford to his wife's uncle Toby Caulfeild, 1st Baron Caulfeild, Master of the Ordnance and Caulfield had the sale confirmed by letters patent of 12 July 1620 (Pat. 19 James I. XI. 45, ''Quilkagh'').

Nature

The Cuilcagh area supports a rich assemblage of upland insects, and is one of the most important sites in Ireland for these species. Species recorded include the water beetles ''Agabus melanarius'', ''Agabus arcticus'', ''Dytiscus lapponicus'', ''Stictotarsus multilineatus'', ''Hydroporus longicornis'' and ''Hydroporus morio'' and the water bugs ''Glaenocorisa propinqua'' and ''Callicorixa wollastoni''. Lough Atona is the main locality for these species.

Conservation

The Cuilcagh Mountain Park was opened by Fermanagh District Council in 1998.

Ramsar site

The Cuilcagh Mountain Ramsar site (wetlands of international importance designated under the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on We ...

), is 2744.45 hectares in area, at latitude 54 13 26 N and longitude 07 48 17 W. It was designated a Ramsar site on 31 December 1998.

Geopark

In 2001 the Cuilcagh Mountain Park was joined with popular tourist attraction the Marble Arch Caves and the Cladagh Glen Nature Reserve to make one of the first

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

-recognised European Geoparks. This became a Global Geopark in 2004. In September 2008 the Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark was expanded into County Cavan, making it the world's first transnational cross-border Geopark. The Geopark is protected and managed by Fermanagh & Omagh District Council through the staff of the Marble Arch Caves Visitor Centre.

Boardwalk trail

In 2015, the Cuilcagh Boardwalk Trail or Cuilcagh Legnabrocky Trail (also called "The Stairway to Heaven") was opened up to preserve and protect the underlying peatland bog from erosion; however, the trail led to a dramatic rise in visitors to Cuilcagh from circa 3,000 per annum to over 60,000. The popularity of the trail has led to concerns over the ability of the area to handle the increased visitors to the trail. Starting from the Legnabrocky Car Park (paid parking), the trail is over 6 kilometres long to the top (or over 7 kilometres starting from the nearby Marble Arch Caves car park). The first 5 kilometres are on a wide undulating gravel track, while the final kilometre involves climbing 450 wooden steps to a viewing gallery at the top of the route (which is close to the top of Cuilcagh mountain itself). Walkers are advised to allow 2.5–3.5 hours to complete the full 12–14 kilometre round-trip journey.

Gallery

File:Cuilcagh, Fermanagh - 33673332691.jpg, View from the summit File:Cuilcagh & Benaughlin in November 07.jpg, Benaughlin viewed from South Fermanagh with Cuilcagh on left File:Cuilcagh, Fermanagh - 33762156926.jpg, Boardwalk section of "Stairway to Heaven"

References

External links

Cuilcagh Boardwalk Trail
''WalkNI'' (2018)

''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

'' (April 2017)
Cuilcagh Legnabrocky Boarded Mountain Trail
Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark (July 2015) {{Irish long-distance trails Mountains and hills of County Fermanagh Mountains and hills of County Cavan Marilyns of Ireland Ramsar sites in Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border International mountains of Europe Highest points of Irish counties Mountains under 1000 metres Karst