The day was freezing cold – reoite. There was nice clarity in the overcast air.
I had come to visit Cloch an Fhir Mhóir. Cú Chulainn’s stone.
At the bottom of the field was a large puddle or pond, from the heavy rains. The surface at the edges was frozen around the blades of grass.
Looking up the hill, I could see the stone jutting out. Walking directly to it didn’t feel right. Slowly I walked, over the frozen thistles that looked like starfish. I went in a slow spiral around the stone.
I didn’t make “eye contact” with the stone too soon. I drew nearer and nearer.
Clockwise. I was sure to walk clockwise. No chance was I going to risk going the other way. I am but a man, not amongst the gods.
I decided it was time to reach the stone itself. Small rocks had been placed up against the base, with more simply scattered on the field.
I touched the stone. Desperately cold. I kept my hand on it. Feeling the cold of the stone, and perhaps the stone feeling the warmth of the hand.
A jarring stone. Taller than any person. Layers in the rock, and a crack all the way down. A small tuft of grass growing in a small crack near the top.
Cold – my first real encounter with myth.
Photos copyright Bitesize Irish 2026.
Go raibh maith agat a Eoin as an teagmháil seo lenár stair ghlórmhar. (I signed in as a guest because I could not find your article on Bitesize!)
Haigh James, go raibh maith agat! I’d like to better understand what you mean by signed in as a guest, please contact us info@bitesize.irish
Cá bhfuil sé? An bhfuil an cloch ar an cnoc na Tara? GRMA!
Tá sé i gContae Lú – County Louth. Thart ar 65km ó Chnoc na Teamhrach.
Eoin
really enjoyed your first-person account of encountering the stone.
Go raibh maith agat Kathleen.
Lovely!
I enjoyed learning some new words and practicing their pronunciation.
Please create more of these!
Thank you.
Thanks for the feedback Michelle 👍 We’ll keep doing the work. We work to make our Gaeilge Gach Lá Newsletter a cultural experience.
Your photos are wonderful. The pic of the sioc on the feochadan is so interesting. Made me think of a spider’s web. I loved seeing the sun trying to burst through the cloud cover to reach Cu Chulainn’s stone.
The feochadán mandala is interesting, it’s it? The sun was trying to burst through. I didn’t mention it here, but there was a solar eclipse (not visible from Ireland) around the same time that day, so the moon was about the same place in the sky. The sun felt heavy.
Interesting. Thanks for the Irish words and their phoenetic spellings.
Thanks for the feedback Donald.