WALKERS intent on seeking out the quieter byways for their rambles will have a new "waymarked way" to travel from next month, when the Suck Valley Way is officially opened.
The circular route on the Galway-Roscommon border is one of a growing network of walks covering hundreds of kilometres, including well-known walks such as the Wicklow Way and the Kerry Way.
Like many of the other ones, the new walk opens out a part of the countryside that has not been spoilt by mass tourism. It covers 95km from Ballygar in Galway to Athleague in Roscommon, and its development has put more than £250,000 into the local economy over the past two years.
Part of the route retraces the steps taken by the Gaelic chieftain, O Suilleabhain Beara, on his long march northwards in January 1603. Outnumbered by superior English forces and facing starvation, Donall Cam O Suilleabhain left the Beara peninsula with 1,000 followers on a 16-day trek in the depths of winter, to join allies in Leitrim. Many perished along the way, and others settled where they could. Only 35 people made it to their destination.
Local folklore has it that many died on Mount Mary, near Ballygar. The expedition paused for the night on the 500-foot hill, to find the countryside blanketed with snow when they woke up. Many of O Suilleabhain's followers had never seen snow before.
Other places off interest along the Suck Valley Way include Donoman Castle, reputed to be the oldest inhabited building in Ireland. Another castle at Ballytubber, Co Roscommon, is the former home of the last High King of Ireland, whose descendants live near Castlerea.
There is also the prehistoric La Tene stone with symbolic markings at Castlestrange. But the main attraction for ramblers is the prospect of a wander along a relatively unpolluted river valley, past raised bogs, forests and lakes and beside the river. It offers a rich treasure of flora and fauna to the explorer.
THE Irish record pike was caught near Athleague last September, according to a spokesman for the Suck Valley Development Co-operative. Weighing in at 42lb, the catch illustrates the potential for tourism development in the area, as long as it is handled in a sensitive way that does not scare away both rambler and angler.
The former Church of Ireland church in Athleague is being refurbished as an angling, school and visitor centre, and is due to open next year. "I suppose you could call it an interpretative centre for coarse angling," the spokesman says.