Tranquil tracks and pretty waterways

FOR one of the most pleasant and authentic wilderness experiences, you won’t do much better than to head down to Letterkeen and Srahmore, in the foothills of the Nephin Beg Mountain Range.
Letterkeen is the essence of tranquillity. The name says it all, as it means ‘calm hillside’. Caoin can also mean ‘fair’ or ‘pleasant.’ Leitir means ‘wet, spewy hillside’ and the ‘Big Strath’ or Srah Mór indicates we are in riparian territory here. Rivers abound and they do not look much prettier than the Altahoney River. Altahoney River in Irish is ‘Abhainn Ailt an Chonnaidh’ that translates to ‘river of the cliff of the firewood’. There are beautiful tiny weirs and waterfalls along its course from Nephin Beg mountain to Lough Feeagh.
The reason I like these two townlands so much is that they contain one of the best looped walks in the county, the Letterkeen Loop Walk. I have completed the loop many times and it never fails to impress. I was there again recently with Westport Hillwalkers.
We stopped for lunch at the Lough Avoher (from ‘bóthar’ meaning ‘road’) hut, constructed voluntarily by members of Mountain Meitheal. It is in a lovely location at the edge of the townland of Mám a’Rata, the ‘pass of the young hare’, where the Bangor Trail continues to the northwest and there are two options for a longer ‘high’ or a shorter ‘low’ section of our loop above the little mountain lake from which the hut takes its name.

Panorama
ONE of the best panoramas on the walk is from Correenbeg Hill, the next stop on the ‘high’ route. At 311 metres above sea level this is a terrific vantage point. Views to the west include the sea coast and Nephin Beg Mountain to the north. Lying in-between is a wilderness that looks untouched. Well, almost. There are forest tracks, evidence of tree harvesting, one or two farmhouses and the Bellacorick wind turbines are visible in the distance. It was once reputed to be the loneliest place in Ireland.
Using a word you don’t hear much these days, Robert Lloyd Praeger, antiquarian Irish nature writer, described the scene as ‘inspiriting.’ I love this word because it seems to offer something more long-term to someone – it means encouraging or enlivening – rather than the more fleeting effect of being merely ‘inspiring.’ It is inspiring too of course, producing ‘positive or creative feelings.’ In any case, no amount of writing about it can truly convey the lived experience; you must get out there and experience it first-hand yourself.

Rewilding
ANOTHER word, that was not in vogue in Praeger’s day, is ‘rewilding.’ This whole section of the National Park is undergoing a rewilding programme under the auspices of the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The NPWS website explains:
“Wild Nephin National Park is at the beginning of the rewilding and ecological restoration of the Nephin Forest, an extensive area of what was previously commercial conifer plantation to the east of the Nephin Beg Mountain Range. The Nephin Forest Conversion is starting the journey to where nature is once again the driving force.
“The Conversion Plan will set out the long-term vision for the Nephin Forest with plans to rewild and restore peatlands, woodlands, and riparian habitats within an expansive landscape. Over the past 50 years this area has been dominated by coniferous forests planted for commercial timber production. Our work will create conditions for natural processes to become the dominant driver of change, where biodiversity is enhanced, ecosystems restored and where people can connect with nature in a remote and wild environment.”
The nearby Owenduff bog is one of the last intact active blanket bog systems in Ireland and Western Europe and is an important scientific and scenic feature of the National Park. Wild Nephin National Park is part of the Natura 2000 Network, which protects rare and important habitats and species under the EU Habitats and Birds Directive. To the east of the mountains is the Nephin Forest, which is currently mainly comprised of Sitka spruce and lodgepole pine, and was originally planted for commercial purposes. This area is now within the National Park and will be managed for biodiversity and recreation.
People have fished and hunted game in the area for a long period. Fishing and hunting lodges, still present outside of the National Park, were bases for these activities. Native red deer, which have returned to the Nephin Beg mountains, was one of the species hunted.

Dr John O’Callaghan is a mountain walk leader who has organised and led expeditions both at home and abroad.
He has served on the board of Mountaineering Ireland and is currently on the Irish Uplands Forum board.