There are numerous tales relating to both the mountain and the caves, the mountain itself was said to be formed by a sleeping sow! The story describes how Deirdre of Túatha Dé Danann was transformed into a sow due to being enchanted and went on a rampage across the county causing death and destruction.

Sadly we didn’t get to see the cairn on the day of this visit as we were pushing for time before nightfall and the caves demanded to be explored! There is a seriously steep climb up to the sixteen caves that dot the side of this mountain, luckily it wasn’t as wet on our way up as it ended up being on our way back, in fading daylight it proved pretty tricky and mucky. The top of the hill being the site of a cairn 30metres in diameter which is unexcavated but is believed to contain a passage tomb. The hill is an incredibly important site of megalithic and pre-christian heritage in Ireland. There is no words to describe the view as you come down the winding Ballymote to Boyle road and these caves appear on the white, west facing side of the Hill of Kesh.

“They had not been long so when Fionn and Conan reached the cavern’s edge, and so perceived the three hideous hags thus busied sit at its entrance: their three coarse heads of hair all disheveled their eyes rheumy and redly bleared their three mouths black and deformed, and in the gums of each evil woman of them a set of sharpest venomous and curved fangs…”- The Enchanted Cave of Kesh Corran

Slay the spire rampage