Slieve Gullion and the Cursed Lake

Slieve Gullion and the Cursed Lake The mountain straight ahead north is Slieve Gullion. In the tale known as The Hunt of Slieve Gullion, two sisters Áine, the goddess of summer, and Milucra, the goddess of winter, both seek after the legendary hero Fionn mac Cumhaill. Áine had vowed never to marry a man with grey hair. So Milucra secretly puts a spell on the lake atop Slieve Gullion, so that anyone who swam in it would immediately grow old. She tricked Fionn asking him to fetch her golden ring which she lost in the lake. He does and emerges as an old man with white hair. His men, the Fianna, force her to give him a restorative potion from her cornucopia. Fionn's youth returns, but his hair stays white. And this is why he is called, Fionn, meaning 'white'. The lake is still up there and is called the Cursed Lake. Are you brave enough to swim in it? Lower down, on a hillock called Spellick, is a rock feature called the Calliagh Birra's Chair. Calliagh Birra's being Milucra alter ego. Locals would visit it at Lughnasadh and take turns sitting on the chair.