Its fans say that the Gearagh woodland, with its delta-like network of streams and rivulets, could be to Co Cork what the Cliffs of Moher are to Co Clare. Just be careful not to get lost.
The Gearagh is no ordinary woodland. It is an alluvial forest, an ancient wooded wilderness of islands interlaced by a delta-like network of streams and rivulets that characterise this stretch of the River Lee in Co Cork.
For millenniums people have been getting lost in the Gearagh. Some, such as the locally famous Robin Hood-like Sean Rua na Gaoire, got lost on purpose.
Kevin Corcoran, an author, retired science teacher, and descendant of Gearagh dwellers, is steeped in its ecology and folklore. He warns of the bewildering nature of the place as he hands me a sturdy hazel rod for testing the stream as we wade into the forest…
Irish Times 02/07/2016 Read the article ‘The Gearagh: the River Lee’s ancient inland empire’
