DÚLRA wouldn’t have the courage to stand where Jake Mac Siacais is, especially with Halloween round the corner. Because he’s actually inside Ireland’s ‘Gateway to Hell.
And it’s pitch-black deep under the Earth in a cave that stretches for about 150ft. It’s the spookiest place in the country and has been linked to the Otherworld since human records began. It’s said that every Samhain – Halloween night – spirits and demons emerge from this cave to walk amongst us.
Of course it would take more than that to frighten a guy from West Belfast like Jake. And this week he fulfilled a lifetime ambition to walk the mysterious cave of Uaimh na gCat in County Roscommon that is said to be the centre of Ireland – its umbilical cord, so to speak.
It was here that Cú Chulainn’s great rival, Queen Méabh of Connacht, lived and she tested the valour of her warriors by sending them into this cave to face the three wild cats that lived there. Most were ripped asunder.
The story of the Cattle Raid of Cooley might be mythical, but there’s always a grain of truth in myths – you just don’t know which grain. And inside the Uaimh na gCat is evidence that it was indeed based on truth. Scrawled in the ancient Ogham writing – a language which was only relatively recently deciphered – is a person’s name: the classic X was here-type graffiti. Polymath Jake can read Ogham, of course, and the graffiti reads ‘Fraech, son of Medb.’
It could be thousands of years old, but Fraech wanted the world to know that he survived one of the most terrifying challenges of his time.
Jake travelled from Belfast to visit the cave. “When you reach a certain age there are things you just have to do before it’s too late,” he smiled.
He not only crawled into the cave, but walked its whole 40 metres underground. And of course there’s no point taking a mobile phone, because they don’t work. “It was incredibly dark down there, a kind of thick darkness and sometimes you were on your hands and knees. I spent about an hour and a half in it and you realised why it meant so much to our ancestors. It really is a magical place.
“I wanted to go at Samhain, but I had to go a fortnight earlier. This area is Ráth Cruachan where Queen Méabh had her court and of course where Uaimh na gCat is the Threshold of the Otherworld.
“Manchán Magan visited this cave and when he died recently I decided to visit in tribute to him.”
Manchán wanted everyone to tap into their connection to Ireland’s mythical past and he loved this oft-forgotten part of the county, where the great Shannon River starts (the river is named after Sionann, granddaughter of the sea god Manannán Mac Lir). For Manchán, Uaimh na gCat was more special than the Hill of Tara, which tourists flock to.
Jake said: “You have to enter Uaimh na gCat backwards and slide into it. At the start there’s a very narrow gap and you squeeze through that and then around a corner before the cave itself starts. You can’t stand up until you’re about 15 minutes in. And it’s very mucky, it’s best to wear boots.
The entrance to the County Roscommon cave has a special place in Irish mythology
"For the most part we walked in the darkness but we brought a light with us for safety, and I knew there was writing on the wall so I wanted to see that.
“Thís is where the síoga (fairies) lived. While people called it the Threshold of the Otherworld, when Christianity came to Ireland, it was called the Gateway to Hell in a bid to stamp out the pagan beliefs.
“Manchán believed it was the most sacred place in Ireland, and I agree with him.”
Jake also points out that it’s from this cave that the goddess of war Morrígan emerges to wreak havoc – Morrígan is the raven which perched on Cú Chulainn’s shoulder when he was dying.
Jake said that after a while in the cave, you forgot about the world above. “It really was like being in the Otherworld,” he said.
Uaimh na gCat is now on Dúlra’s bucket list – but only if they manage to get the wifi working.
• If you’ve seen or photographed anything interesting, or have any nature questions, you can text Dúlra on 07801 414804.
