A walk on the wildside

A Day on the Knockmealdowns

Last Friday week turned out to be one of the first real days of our long-awaited spring and as I stood on the bridge over the river Suir just outside the village of Newcastle in County Tipperary, I saw the first contingent of swallows swooping over the river. What a welcome sight they were, probably returning to the very place they were born in, guided across deserts, mountains and seas by an instinct deep within them.

There is an old saying that one swallow does not make a summer, but still they are harbingers of the long, balmy days which we hope are ahead, although last year the first arrivals appeared early in the month of March.

I hoped that they were a good omen for the day that lay ahead, my next stop was at the next bridge upstream on the river near the tiny village of Goatenbridge. A very kind lady at the shop in the village directed me to the carpark which leads on to part of the Munster Way. I found myself on a winding forest track which overlooks the fertile Tipperary countryside stretching off into the distance, the last specks of snow could still be seen on the Knockmealdowns and over on the slopes of the Galtees, a plume of blue smoke from heather-burning rose in the still air.

This walk is well-marked, with plenty of signs to direct you on the many different routes. I chose to walk up to the Liam Lynch monument which takes the best part of an hour from the carpark. Despite the fine day, the only person I met on the walk was a solitary jogger and once again I was struck by the lack of any sign of birdlife, no sweet song of a lark ascending, no harsh call of a soaring raven.

After many twist and turns, I came on the sign for the monument, crossed the two small stone bridges and there it was, a sixty foot high round tower, guarded by four statues of Irish wolfhounds. I had timed my visit very well, I was there on 9th April, the eve of the anniversary of the day on which Liam Lynch was shot on 10th April, 1923.

This is now a hallowed place of peace, but I wondered what it was like on that early morning 87 years ago on the slopes of the Knockmealdowns when Liam Lynch and six of his comrades began to retreat up the mountain pursued by Free State troops. Lynch’s group came under very heavy fire, and the man who had survived so much danger was hit by a bullet from a rifle. He died later that day. It was on April 7th, 1935 that this monument was dedicated to him.

It was built with the voluntary labour of many of his old friends and comrades, and replaced the old wooden cross that had stood there for many years. The ceremony on that day was attended by about 15,000 people. Liam Lynch now lies buried in the Republican plot in Kilcrumper with his old friend and comrade, Mick Fitzgerald. This walk and many others in this area are very well documented in the book, Walking in Ireland, written by Sandra Bardwell, Helen Fairbairn and Gareth McCormack, published by Lonely Planet Books.

My thanks to M.C. and to M.B. for telling me where the Soldier’s Step used to be. I had often heard about it, but never knew its exact location. It was situated near Condon’s Bridge in the Knockananig area and it led down through the glen to the family home of the Sweeney family. Sadly, the history behind the Soldier’s Step is unknown. Thanks also to J. O’D. for asking for the location of our story, Outside Granny’s Door in a recent Walk on the Wildside.

All of these places would have been very well known to my friend Tommy Baker, very few people knew our countryside as well as Tommy. He is a great loss to his family and to all who knew him. RIP.