Tory Hill

Ordnance Survey: Discovery Series 75.

Distance: 5.5 kilometres. Time: 1 ½ hours.

Degree of difficulty: Easy/Moderate. Mostly commercial crushed stone tracks and earthen paths which may be wet in winter.

Total ascent: 160 meters.

Trailhead: Grid Reference S 586 228. From the village of Mullinavat, take the R448, signposted Waterford. Immediately on exiting the village, take the first turn left (Lxxx) which may be signposted "Trailhead". 1.2 kilometres after passing under the M9 Dublin-Waterford motorway, take the next right turn and proceed for 1½ kilometres - the approach to Tory Hill in on your right, marked by a carved "Sliabh Cruinn" sign. There is ample parking available 250 metres down the unpaved road.

From the parking area, proceed uphill towards the Y-fork, where green and purple arrows encourage you to take the left fork uphill. Do so, but note that this is the final occasion on which you will have regard to the direction of any arrows you may encounter. Before you come to the metal barrier, glance down to the edge of the forest on the road you did not take: here wild mushrooms grow in profusion in mid September if conditions are suitable.

The trail climbs gently. and the landscape gradually opens up to reveal wonderful views of the Comeragh mountains in County Waterford. At the top of a small rise the road levels out 540 meters from the car parking area, and a broad winding earthen path veers off uphill to the left. Follow this as it leads through a cleared forest, and the landscape broadens again to show views to the south of the River Suir and the inverted Y of the toll bridge in Waterford City.

After a few moments, the rocky path you are following veers to the right, and a narrower less-travelled track heads left. Follow this along the side of the hill above some well tended fields to emerge once again on the crushed stone path. Turn right.

The commercial path eventually comes to an end near a flat concrete platform - continue on uphill on the narrow path towards the cross at the  summit. To the south-east is Lough Cullin surrounded by the fertile fields of South Kilkenny, and beyond  can be seen the sea and headland at Tramore. Note the exposed bedrock of the path beneath you, evidence of the many feet that have tramped this ancient place of pilgrimage over thousands of years.

At just under 300 meters, Tory Hill hardly qualifies as a mountain, yet the hill dominates its hinterland like few others. To the north, note the seven wind turbines above Mullinavat and to the north-east another set of turbines. Brandon Hill (above Graiguenamanagh) is also to the north. The solitary hill to the east is Slieve Colltia in County Wexford.

Behind the enclosure surrounding the cross, pick up a faint trail heading in a north-westerly direction, and follow this downhill through purple heather and low yellow gorse, back to the crushed stone track. This is possibly the most attractive part of the walk.

Turn right, downhill, and immediately notice another faint path heading uphill to the right. This can be a little overgrown in places due to lack of use, but you will be compensated by the profusion of blackberries in season. The path eventually swings downhill at the corner of the forest to return you to the crushed stone roadway. Turn right and notice along the way several paths leading uphill to your right. These were once part of the network of ancient trails crisscrossing the mountain bur are sadly now impassable due to lack of use. Continue back down to the parking place  and starting point (about 2 kilometers).


Four facts concerning Tory Hill:

>>>  1n 1994, a battle took place for the soul of this ancient place of worship. A telecommunications company, Cablelink, wanted to install a Multipoint Microwave Distribution System - MMDS - from a 90 meter high metal mast just below the cross on the top of the hill. This was to be part of a nationwide system to distribute foreign television channels to an Irish audience. After a sustained campaign by locals, the plan was abandoned, and Tory Hill once again became a place of quiet contemplation.

>>>  A story is told locally about the highwayman Freyney who buried a bag of gold coins near the top of Tory Hill. To mark the spot, he buried his sword  in the ground, with only the hilt showing. Some years later, some horsemen were hunting on Tory Hill, among them a friend of Freyney. During the hunt, his horse stumbled and fell and he noticed the sword. He later returned to the spot, dug up the gold, and left shortly afterward for America.

 

>>>  Fraughan Sunday has been celebrated since ancient times on Tory Hill on the second Sunday in July. Fraocháns (or bilberries) were believed to cure diarrhea, dysentery, hemorrhoids and urinary problems. Mass is celebrated and hymns are sung at the cross, which was erected in 1954.

 

>>>  In the early 1880s , some walkers discovered a long carved stone on Tory Hill. The inscription read BELI DIVOSE, which scholars believed related to a cult of Phoenician sun worshipers who had colonized the area in ancient times. It was subsequently proved that the stone was in fact carved by a local man named Edmond Conic. He had carved his own name, reversing the final C. The fact that scholars were reading the inscription upside down did not help matters.