Slieve Foy tops out at 589 metres, the highest point in County Louth, and on a clear day you can see across Carlingford Lough to the Mourne Mountains, out over the Irish Sea, and, on the rare days the haze lifts, the Isle of Man. It’s the high point of the Cooley Mountains (Irish: Sliabh Feá), a compact range that rises straight off the coast on the peninsula between Louth and the border. The lower slopes are wrapped in the Coillte-managed Slieve Foye Woods, a mature mixed forest threaded with colour-coded walking trails and picnic areas, a few minutes from the sea.
Legends of the Táin and Finn McCool
This is mythological ground. The peninsula is the setting for the Táin Bó Cúailnge, the Cattle Raid of Cooley, Ireland’s great epic, and the pass called Barnavave (Bearna Mhéabha, ‘Maeve’s Gap’) marks the route Queen Medb’s army is said to have taken during the raid. Slieve Foy keeps a foot in folklore too: its profile is read as a sleeping giant, Finn McCool, who is said to have hurled the boulder now called the Cloghmore clear across Carlingford Lough from these slopes, landing it on Slieve Martin on the far side.
The fairy lore is taken half-seriously here. In 2009 the area was granted EU Habitats Directive protection, officially for its flora and fauna, but the local signage cheerfully extends the designation to cover the area’s “wild animals and little people”.
Walking the Slieve Foy trails
The colour-coded loops start from the Tourist Office car park in Carlingford village and climb out of the square onto the lower slopes. There’s a second free car park, the Coillte one, at the Slieve Foye Woods forest entrance on the R173 about 3.5 km north-east of Carlingford toward Omeath; both have picnic tables. If you only want the summit, the Slieve Foye Loop is the one; for an easy family stroll, stick to the Commons Loop.
- Commons Loop (3 km, green): an easy, mostly flat circuit through the lower woodland, fine for families and a gentle warm-up.
- Slieve Foye Loop (8 km, blue): the summit route, a hard grade with around 270–280 m of climb, taking roughly 2.5 to 3 hours. It rewards the effort with the full sweep of coast and mountain.
- Barnavave Loop (red): the long, rugged circuit through Maeve’s Gap, 3.5 to 4 hours for experienced walkers. Sources differ on its length, from 12.5 km (Coillte) to 14 km (Visit Louth), so allow for the longer figure.
- Táin Way: the 4 km stretch through Slieve Foye Woods is one section of the 26 km Táin Way, a national waymarked route, and it links the colour-coded loops.
Dogs aren’t permitted on the farmland sections of the loops. For a guided outing, Mountain Ways Ireland runs the Gabbro Ridge Experience along the distinctive ridge, with an optional ‘Devil’s Ladder’ scramble and refreshments back in Carlingford.
Nature and geology
Slieve Foy sits on a core of gabbro, a dark, coarse igneous rock that gives the mountain its character; the Cooley range runs as two ridges split by the Glenmore valley. The forest was planted in the mid-20th century under the national reforestation programme and now shelters real wildlife: keep an eye out for the Irish hare on the open slopes and peregrine falcons over the summit.
Practical information
- Access and parking: reach the trails via the R173 between Carlingford and Omeath. Both car parks are free and have picnic tables. There are no cafés on the mountain, so bring supplies or eat in Carlingford before or after.
- Weather and safety: conditions on the summit change fast, the ground turns boggy after rain, and visibility can drop in winter. Wear waterproof boots and bring layers.
- Navigation: mobile signal is patchy near the top. Carry a physical map or GPS, tell someone your route, and stay on the path for both safety and habitat protection.
- Getting across the lough: the Carlingford Lough Ferry runs hourly from Greenore to Greencastle in County Down, a 15-minute crossing that saves a long road loop, and the flat Carlingford Greenway follows the old railway line from Omeath into Carlingford if you’d rather walk or cycle in.
Climb early or late for the best light over Carlingford Lough, and check the tide times if you plan to pair the hike with a walk along the shore below.