Reyfad () is a

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

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 ...

. It lies in the land division of Old Barr, in the civil parish of Boho. The townland has previously been called Rayfadd - 1659, Raffada (Magheryboy) - 1672 and Ráith Fada "long fort" - 1833. This high plateau is known for its extensive cave system (see Caves of the Tullybrack and Belmore hills) and

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

stones. The summit of a nearby hill is known as Tullybrack or Reyfad Mountain () but it is in fact situated in the townland of Aghamore, County Fermanagh, also within the Boho area.

History

Nearby to Tullybrack summit lies Two Dogs (derived from the meaning "the hill of the two hounds"), which was the site of an ancient clan battle, as recorded in the

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...

''A great number of the men of BreifnySee
Breifne The Kingdom of Breifne or Bréifne (), anglicized as Breffny, was a medieval overkingdom in Gaelic Ireland. It comprised what is now County Leitrim, County Cavan and parts of neighbouring counties, and corresponds roughly to the Roman Catho ...
. were disabled and slain by Muinter-Feodachain, on the hill of Odhra, in Sliabh-da-Chon. They lost no less than forty men, together with Conor, the son of Donnell Mac Sweeny, who had gone on that incursion through folly and youth. Some of the men of Dartry, and others of the people of the Clann-Hugh Maguire, were slain there.''

Reyfad Stones

The Reyfad Stones are six stones on the side of a hill, five of which have curvilinear

cup and ring mark Cup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found in the Atlantic seaboard of Europe (Ireland, Wales, Northern England, Scotland, France (Brittany), Portugal, and Spain (Galicia (Spain), Galicia) – and in Mediterranean Europe ...

ings which date from the Neolithic to the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

, about 5000 years ago. They are located behind the Sacred Heart Church in Boho (OS Ref (GB): H112462 / Sheet: 17). These are designated as a scheduled monument (SM 210:13) by the Environment and Heritage service at the Department of the Environment. The largest stone measures over and has megalithic inscriptions all across its surface; this pattern is inscribed deeper on the smaller stones. Similar

megalithic art Megalithic art refers to art either painted or carved onto megaliths in prehistoric Europe and found on the structural elements, like the kerbstones, orthostats, or capstones of megalithic tombs, but recent investigations have included decorati ...

found at

Newgrange Newgrange () is a prehistoric monument in County Meath in Ireland, placed on a rise overlooking the River Boyne, west of the town of Drogheda. It is an exceptionally grand passage tomb built during the Neolithic Period, around 3100 BC, makin ...

, Knowth and Dowth is dated circa 3200 BC.

Reyfad cave system

Reyfad high plateau is known for its extensive cave system (see Caves of the Tullybrack and Belmore hills) and

stones.

Little Reyfad

Grid ref: H096465. The rocks of this sinkhole consist of Dartry Limestone, Knockmore Limestone and chert. The site has been designated a PASSI. Little Reyfad is at the base of a shakehole. A series of descents (7 m) leads to a floor of broken chert, followed by a further 3 metre difficult descent to another base, which is blocked with a rock and gravel.

Reyfad Pot (''Pota Raith Fada'')

Grid ref: H08894687. The rocks from this formation comprise Carn and Dartry Limestones with some Glenade

Sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

Breccia Breccia ( , ; ) is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or Rock (geology), rocks cementation (geology), cemented together by a fine-grained matrix (geology), matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language ...

, chert, calcite and gypsum deposits can also be found. This cave is noted by the

Northern Ireland Environment Agency The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) is an executive agency within the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). It is responsible for conservation of Northern Ireland's environment and natural heritage. Ori ...

as being the most important underground karst site in Northern Ireland. At deep and long, it is the deepest cave system in Ireland and the second-longest in Northern Ireland. This site is a PASSI and is a very active cave with many calcite formations and fossiliferous limestone, which includes evidence of

Brachiopods Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, while the fron ...

and

Crinoid Crinoids are marine invertebrates that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that remain attached to the sea floor by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms, called feather stars or comatulids, are ...

s. The extended area is hypothesised to have formed from the last glacial period (

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

History

Reyfad Stones

Reyfad cave system

Little Reyfad

Reyfad Pot (''Pota Raith Fada'')

Notes

References

External links