The battle in the pass
On 15 August 1599, in the narrow gap the road still threads through the Curlew Mountains, Red Hugh O’Donnell’s forces ambushed and routed an English column of around 2,000 men under Sir Conyers Clifford. It was one of the cleaner Irish victories of the Nine Years’ War. It is also the reason to stop here, because the hills themselves are modest: a low ridge of sandstone between Boyle in County Roscommon and Castlebaldwin in County Sligo, topping out at 259 m (850 ft).
That the ridge stands at all is down to the rock. The Curlews are built of hard Devonian sandstone and conglomerate, more resistant to erosion than the Carboniferous limestone around them, so they rise as a rugged spine above the softer boglands of the midlands. From the top the ground falls away towards Lough Key and the Shannon lowlands.
Despite the English name, the mountains probably have nothing to do with the bird. The Irish An Corrshliabh is usually read as ‘the rough or rugged mountain’, though some sources give ‘steep-sided pointed mountains’; either way, the curlew of the maps looks like a later mishearing.
The Gaelic Chieftain
The most visited thing on the ridge isn’t the summit but a sculpture. The Gaelic Chieftain, a charging horseback warrior in weathered metal by Maurice Harron, was put up in 1999 to mark 400 years since the battle. It stands on high ground above the pass, right beside the N4, with a lay-by and picnic area so you can pull in, look at it, and take in the view over the mountains and Lough Key without climbing anything. There are no interpretive panels to speak of, but the heather-clad ground below still reads as an ambush waiting to happen.
Walking the ridge
If you want the walk, the usual start is a small free car park off the N4 on the Boyle side, opposite a lay-by. From there a well-trodden path climbs south across open heath and old stone walls to the ridge – roughly 2 km one way, about 45 minutes to an hour at a steady pace. The ridge forms part of the waymarked Miners Way and Historical Trail and the long-distance Beara-Breifne Way, so orange-and-white markers see you along the longer routes.
There is no trail infrastructure up top and the summit is exposed, so mist can shut the view down in minutes. Bring a waterproof and something to navigate with, and don’t block the access tracks when you park. The lay-bys also sit right on the N4, a busy national road, so take care pulling in and out.
Nearby
Boyle sits within easy reach of a run of older sites:
- Boyle Abbey – a well-kept Cistercian abbey founded in 1161, a few kilometres north.
- Lough Key Forest & Activity Park – forest trails, a treetop adventure course, toilets and a café; the obvious family stop after the hill.
- Arigna Mining Experience – on the same Miners Way, telling the long history of coal and iron in these hills.
- Carrowkeel – a hilltop cluster of passage tombs over 5,000 years old, reachable on the historical trail network.
- King House – a restored Georgian mansion in Boyle, open seasonally.
If you’ve only a few minutes, skip the climb and pull in at the Gaelic Chieftain lay-by on the N4. It hands you the best of the Curlews at the roadside: the battle site, the sculpture and the long view over Lough Key, all at once.