Sheean - An Sián / An Síodhán, The Fairy Mound aerial view. © OSI.ie |
There are two routes to the fairy mound, the first takes you past the COMB FIELD, up a bohereen
to the top of the ridge and into a field which looks towards the Slieve Bloom mountains.
to the top of the ridge and into a field which looks towards the Slieve Bloom mountains.
Past the Comb Field |
To the top of the ridge |
Here there is a small standing stone known as the Licking Stone, beloved of the cattle who graze here. One theory for its' attraction is that it provides the animals licking it with essential minerals, the other is that it sits close to Sheean and therefore contains some sort of animal magnetism which draws the cows and keeps them healthy.
From the Licking Stone it is an easy walk across the fields to the mound within the trees, seen in the distance. |
Today Sheean is still known as the place of the Good People and is rarely visited.
If you do take a chance and go there, walk through the surrounding trees until you reach a clearing
and make sure to bring a gift for the Sídhe, some cheese or a drop of poitín will do nicely.
Approach quietly, acknowledge their presence and leave your offering at the foot of the tree which stands like a guardian on the path.
Walk slowly into the wide ditch and make your way, sunwise, until you reach a small overgrown path.
Climb the path with care and stand beneath the old archway of two whitethorn trees.
If you do take a chance and go there, walk through the surrounding trees until you reach a clearing
and make sure to bring a gift for the Sídhe, some cheese or a drop of poitín will do nicely.
Approach quietly, acknowledge their presence and leave your offering at the foot of the tree which stands like a guardian on the path.
Climb the path with care and stand beneath the old archway of two whitethorn trees.
Two entwined whitethorns covered with ivy stand on the mound. |
Listen to voices on the wind....
but be sure to leave before 9pm.