Abandoned village in the Ox Mountains is part of walks project
AN ABANDONED village in the Ox Mountains has been featured in a project in which four artists were commissioned to engage with some older people and to “creatively capture” their favourite walks.
For the past number of months artists Michele Feeney, Laura Gallagher, Sarah Sexton and Karen Webster have been working on the Take a Walk for Me project. Sligo County Council, through the Sligo Healthy Ireland Fund 2019-2021, commissioned the four artists to creatively capture Sligo walks to explore the relationship between people and their environment.
The idea around the Take a Walk for Me project was to present an opportunity to support older people’s wellbeing during the pandemic, to creatively connect with them during a time of social isolation.
The four walks that the artists undertook were Rosses Point coastal walk, The Sligo Way (the Ballygawley Mountain section from Union Wood to Lough Lumman), Sligo Town to the Tobernalt Holy Well walk and Glen Wood Abandoned Village (a walk up into Glen Wood in the Ox Mountains).
Artist Sarah Sexton was involved in the Glen Wood project and she said that working on the Take a Walk for Me project marked a new direction in her work.
She said: “I used photography and drawing to document my walk into Glen Wood forest near Coolaney.
At the end of this walk lies an abandoned village, dating from pre-Famine times.
While I documented all aspects of the walk, what I was most fascinated with was how the walk physically changed over the fourmonth duration. Over the course of this project, a new path was cut in to the woodland by the forestry. “I was privileged to be able to document the walk up to the abandoned village before this happened. The path I followed was hundreds of years old.”
But Sarah said that with change comes positive things.
“A new path leads up to the village, making it much more accessible, allowing more people to take this walk.
“The views from this path are spectacular. I have captured my walk at a point of metamorphosis. “This whole area will become part of Coolaney Mountain Bike trails. The walkways will remain, and the abandoned village will lie at the centre of it. Though this walk will become busier, I have no doubt that the sense of peace found in the village will remain,” she said.
The Sligo Walks website says the Glen Wood “is a pleasant forest walk with a lovely shaded picnic area”.
“It is situated beneath some of the most dramatic Ox Mountain peaks and overlooks the beautiful Ballisodare Bay. The walk is approximately 2.5km in length and is suitable for all abilities”. It points out that Doomore Mountain sits above and to the west of the wood. Doomore means ‘The Large Mound’, which refers to the large cairn on the summit. It goes on: “Preserved above Glen Wood are the remains of an upland farm settlement including a field clearance system dating back to the middle 1800s.”
It also points out that some 200 metres south of the car park, on the right hand side of the public road, is a rock known as the Hungry Rock.
“It is said to have gotten its name from the number of people who died on the road during the famine in the 1840s, according to folklore whoever throws a stone at this rock will never know hunger on his journey.”
To get to Glen Wood go to Ballisodare and take the Ballina (N59) road. Continue for approximately 6.4km and turn left for Coolaney. After 0.4 kms take the first left for Glen Wood. There is a carpark for the wood on the right after 1.6km.
See sligowalks.ie for further details of walk.
A selection of the visual imagery and written word created by the artists for the Take a Walk For Me project were presented as postcards.
During this year’s Bealtaine Festival Sligo, held throughout May, the postcards were distributed widely throughout the community. To get your free collection of Take a Walk for Me postcards visit your local library.
For the duration of the project the artists also shared their progress with the community via social media, in order to build ongoing engagement with the community around the project walks.
A selection of this creative material along with links to project podcasts can be viewed at www. sligoarts.ie
The Take a Walk for me project was funded by Sligo County Council, through the Healthy Ireland Fund supported by the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.