Carn Clonhugh

Coordinates: 53°48′26″N 7°42′55″W / 53.807196°N 7.71538°W / 53.807196; -7.71538

Carn Clonhugh
Carn Clainne Aodha

Cairn Hill
Highest point
Elevation 278 m (912 ft)[1]
Prominence 200 m (660 ft)[1]
Listing Marilyn
Coordinates 53°48′28″N 7°42′52″W / 53.80778°N 7.71444°W / 53.80778; -7.71444
Geography
Carn Clonhugh

Location in Ireland

Location Corneddan, County Longford, Republic of Ireland
Parent range Longford Hills
OSI/OSNI grid N187840

Corn Hill, also called Carn Hill or Carn Clonhugh (Irish: Carn Clainne Aodha or Sliabh Cairbré), is a hill in County Longford, Republic of Ireland. It lies north of Longford, between Drumlish and Ballinalee, in the parish of Killoe. At 278 metres above sea level, it is the highest hill in the county and has a television mast on the top which rises 123 metres above the peak of the hill.

The name Carn Clonhugh is an anglicisation of the Irish Carn Clainne Aodha, meaning "cairn of Clann Aodha" (anglicised "Clanhugh"). Clanhugh was a historic territory in the northwest of County Longford. The earliest cartographic reference to the hill is found in the 1837–1842 Ordnance Survey Ireland 6 Inch map, which can be seen on the Ordnance Survey Ireland website. In cartography, the hill was referred to as Carn Clonhugh, but by the time of the 2nd edition 1887–1913 Ordnance Survey Ireland 25 Inch map, that was replaced with Corn (corruption of Cairn) Hill. Today, it is known locally as Corn Hill ever since.

Geology

Cairn Hill can be seen in the distance, with a ringfort in the foreground

Cairn Hill is located in area of north Longford dominated by Middle to Upper Ordovician slate, sandstone, conglomerate and greywacke according to the Geological Survey of Ireland public data viewer.

Panorama

The hill has extensive views of the landscape below. The forested land obstructs most of the view from Cairn A, but Cairn B has an extensive panorama from WSW to SSE. Sliabh Ban can clearly be seen from Cairn B along with the peat power-station of Lanesborough–Ballyleague and Ardagh Hill.

Archaeology

Cairn A or Carn Caille

Passage graves usually cluster in two or more cairns, consisting of mainly a passage leading to a central chamber, corbelled roofed chamber sometimes in the form of a cruciform shape. The perimeter of the cairn would be edged by kerbstones, like those of Newgrange, Co. Meath and Carrowmore, Co. Sligo. Passage tombs are usually found in prominent locations, such as hill-tops, with spectacular views. Generally speaking, the less complex the passage tomb is the older it is considered to be. The possible passage tombs atop Cairn hill are considered to be among the oldest in Ireland along with Carrowmore, Co. Sligo.[2]

The hill is particularly important for the two possible passage grave structures atop it. The largest example is Cairn A (or Carn Caille), marking the highest physical point of the hill with a diameter of 18 m and height of 3 m. Reference to that cairn does not appear until 1960, when Ordnance Survey Ireland installed a trigonometrical station, partially damaging the cairn. An excavation took place before installation, with cremated bone recovered from a central rectangular chamber. Thanks to the advent of Global Positioning System technology, the trigonometrical station is now redundant. The second cairn, Cairn B, is about 50 m to the north of Cairn A, with a 9 m diameter and difficult to identify due to the extensive covering of peat and heather.[3]

Folklore

Furbaide Ferbend

Cairn A (or Carn Caille) has two legends associated with it. The first refers to the location of the burial place of Queen Maeve's nephew and murderer, Furbaide Ferbend on the summit of Sliabh Uillen (Cairn Hill). The second legend refers to Cairn A (or Carn Caille)and its creation by the Cailleach a Bheara or ancient Hag/Witch who dropped stones out of her apron as she flew over the hill. This legend is also associated with many Passage grave sites throughout the island of Ireland, such as Carrowmore, Co. Sligo and Carrowkeel, Co. Sligo.[4]

Transmitter

This site is the home of the first UHF television transmitter to be opened in the Republic of Ireland by RTÉ in 1978. It has a mast height of 123 metres, and was designed to fill an area of poor reception in central Ireland. The original (analogue) transmitter was the most powerful in all of Ireland, with an ERP of 800 kW. FM radio transmission was started in 2005 but to date (2012) only RTÉ Radio 1 is broadcast. Digital television broadcasting (DTT) from the site began in February 2009, with analogue television transmissions subsequently ending on 24 October 2012.[5] Today the transmitter, owned and operated by 2RN (a subsidiary of RTÉ), provides the national DTT service Saorview to an extensive area in the Irish midlands.

Current transmissions

Digital television

Frequency UHF kW Multiplex
682 MHz 47 160 Saorview (Mux 1)
658 MHz 44 160 Saorview (Mux 2)

Analogue FM radio

Frequency kW Service
89.8 MHz 20 RTÉ Radio 1
103.1 MHz 5 iRadio

See also

Pictures

References

  1. 1 2 "Corn Hill - Carn Clainne Aodha". MountainViews. Ordnance Survey Ireland. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  2. Moore, Sam (2007). Archaeological Monuments of County Longford. Longford. p. 4.
  3. Moore, Sam (2007). Archaeological Monuments of County Longford. Longford. p. 4.
  4. Moore, Sam (2007). Archaeological Monuments of County Longford. Longford. p. 4.
  5. Irish Times. "Analogue consigned to broadcasting history". Irish Times. Retrieved 2012-06-11.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, January 23, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.