It is 16 years since I last climbed the Mauherslieve Mountain and I'm well overdue a return visit. On top is a large cairn which is likely to be a passage tomb, making it only the 2nd passage tomb in Tipperary.
From archaeology.ie
"Described in the OS Name Books (1840) as a large heap of whitish stones on the summit.. Under which it is said there is a cave or cellar in which a great number of the neighouring people took refuge in the time of the rebellion... it is not known when this cave was made in the moutain... the entrance to it cannot be seen as it is covered with the large stone above mentioned".
The exact meaning of the word Mauher Slieve Mountain is not definite. It is sometimes translated as the Mother Mountain but I'm not 100% sure if this is accurate. The local pronounciation of it is different to the how "Mau her" is pronounced in Irish.
If we see Tempan's paper linked below (Two Moumtain Names, Slieve Felim and Mauherslieve) he records the pronounciation as "moherclea" and "moher" (see pg 123) which tallies a lot more with how I heard it myself locally in 2018 at Kennedys Bar in Rearcross.
He thinks the true meaning / name of the mountain may be "Mothar Shléibhe or Mothar an tSléibhe, 'overgrown wilderness of the mountain".
For more on the meaning see here from the North Munster Antiquarian Journal (2006).
In it he mentions Speed's 1610 map of Munster and the name "Ghe Madona" which he has been unable to identify and I do wonder is it related to Mauher Cle, one of the names given to the mountain. Could the Madona refer to Mother and Geh to Cle?
It was one of the Twelve Mountains of Ebhleen or "Phelem" as incorrectly named in Speed's 1610 map above.
From Sacred Ireland by Cary Meehan
"Ebhleen was a mytholocial figure, married to a king of Cashel. She fell in love with her stepson and eloped with him.
Right in the heart of these mountains is a small peak called Mathair Shliabh or Mother Mountain which has a cairn of stones on top called 'the Terrot'. Those climbing the mountain would carry a stone from the bottom to add to this cairn. The cairn was said to cover the grave of a young man who refused to go to mass one Sunday and went hunting instead. Although it was June - June 29th to be exact - he was caught in a snow-storm and his body later found at the spot now marked by the Terrot.
There was a traditional outing up the mountain here unitl the 1920s. It involved the usual Lughnasa activities of berry-picking, singing and dancing, though the date was 29th June. The monks of Kilcommon were to have started it but it is more likely that they changed the date from Lughnasa to the earlier date which is the Feast of SS Peter and Paul (The Festival of Lughnasa)".
There is more on the Twelve Mountains of Ebhleen in Tempan's paper (pg 120) and it is also the location in the Lebor Gabála Erenn of the place where "the newly arrived Milesians meet with the Goddess Fódla, who appeals to Amergin, leader of the invaders to name the country after her".
There is more on the Twelve Mountains of Ebhleen in Tempan's paper (pg 120) and it is also the location in the Lebor Gabála Erenn of the place where "the newly arrived Milesians meet with the Goddess Fódla, who appeals to Amergin, leader of the invaders to name the country after her".
Some really interesting folklore on an event that occurred on the mountain.
"On the 3rd April 1931 a funeral was seen crossin the side of a high hill called Moher Cle, situated in the parish of Templederry about ten miles from Nenagh. That same evening Mrs. Burke of Coumnagella was dead. The funeral which consisted of white horses & common cars commenced in Coumnagella and after passing over the side of Moher Cle disappeared at Bray's Lough. There were about 50 cars all together and in some cases the drivers of the could be seen whipping the horses. The evening was clear & bright & the time about 7 o'clock."
I did wonder about this story and something called Charles Bonnet Syndrome. I'm not convinced really whether by giving it a name does it really explain it away but the whole thing is fascinating.
This is only the tip of the iceberg regarding this mountain, it is surrounded by megalithic tombs, of which I have written on here before. It could be argued that this mountain is a ritual "focus" of the tombs that flank it in what may have been a very well populated area when the tombs were being constructed or the area was thought of as sacred enough to justify the large amount of work that went into constructing them.
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| Collasped section within the cairn. |
Very interesting. I have yet to climb Mauher cle...if coming from Doon or Kilcommon where should I go to climb it? Mgt F
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