Slieve Foye
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Slieve Foy or Slieve Foye ()Slieve Feá/Slieve Foye
Placenames Database of Ireland The Placenames Database of Ireland (), also known as , is a database and archive of place names in Ireland. It was created by Fiontar, Dublin City University in collaboration with the Placenames Branch of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, ...
. is a mountain on the
Cooley Peninsula The Cooley Peninsula (, older ''Cúalṅge'') is a hilly peninsula in the north of County Louth on the east coast of Ireland; the peninsula includes the small town of Carlingford, the port of Greenore and the village of Omeath. Geography ...
in
County Louth County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...
, Ireland. It rises to , making it the highest of the Cooley Mountains and the highest in Louth. It overlooks
Carlingford Lough Carlingford Lough (, Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: ''Carlinford Loch'') is a glacial fjord or sea inlet in northeastern Ireland, forming part of Republic of Ireland – United Kingdom border, the border between Northern Ireland to the nor ...
and the village of Carlingford, and is sometimes called Carlingford Mountain.


Geography

Slieve Foy is one of two ridges which make up the Cooley Mountains and is separated from the rest of the range by the Windy Gap. It is an elongated mountain running northwest–southeast and includes the lesser summits known as The Foxes Rock, The Ravens Rock, The Eagles Rock, and Barnavave.


Naming

The name means 'mountain of the woods'. Locally the name is understood as , 'mountain of the giant', because its outline is said to resemble a sleeping giant. Local lore has it that the giant Finn McCool, representing summer, stood on the mountain while fighting his rival Ruscaire, representing winter. Finn is said to have beaten Ruscaire by throwing a boulder across the lough at him, which became the Cloughmore (The Big Stone) on Slieve Martin. The mountain also appears in the ''
Táin Bó Cúailnge (Modern ; "the driving-off of the cows of Cooley"), commonly known as ''The Táin'' or less commonly as ''The Cattle Raid of Cooley'', is an epic from Irish mythology. It is often called "the Irish ''Iliad''", although like most other earl ...
'' (Cattle Raid of Cooley). The army of Queen Medb (Maeve) is said to have dug a pass through the mountain, which became known as Barnavave (, "Maeve's gap").


Leprechauns

A local businessman began organising leprechaun-related tourist activities in the area in 1989, including a "leprechaun hunt" to find hidden ceramic figures. In 2009, with support from local councillors, the mountain was formally declared a "Designated Area of Protection for Flora, Fauna, Wild Animals and Little People" under the EU Habitats Directive.; ;


See also

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Lists of mountains in Ireland In these lists of mountains in Ireland, those within Northern Ireland, or on the Republic of Ireland – United Kingdom border, are marked with an asterisk, while the rest are within the Republic of Ireland. Where mountains are ranked by height ...
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List of Irish counties by highest point This is a list of Irish counties by their highest point. These are most commonly known as county high points but are also sometimes referred to as county tops and county peaks. There are 32 counties in Ireland but in the case of 10 counties, ma ...
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List of mountains of the British Isles by height This article provides access to lists of mountains in Britain and Ireland by height and by prominence. (See Lists of mountains below.) Height and prominence are the most important metrics for the classifications of mountains by the UIAA; with ...
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List of Marilyns in the British Isles This is a list of Marilyn hills and mountains in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland and surrounding islands and Stack (geology), sea stacks. Lists of mountains and hills in the British Isles#Marilyns, Marilyns are defined as peaks w ...


References

{{Mountains and hills of Leinster Mountains and hills of County Louth Highest points of Irish counties Marilyns of Ireland Leprechauns in popular culture