Slieve Rushen [Sliabh Roisean]

About Slieve Rushen [Sliabh Roisean]

Straddling the border between Cavan and Fermanagh, this sandstone-capped limestone Marilyn offers a landscape of stark contrasts. While much of its peat-covered slopes are dominated by conifer plantations and a large wind farm, the terrain hides a complex underworld of caves and swallow-holes, including the notable Tory Hole, within its rugged flanks.

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Did You Know?

• •The name Sliabh Roisean is often translated from Irish as 'the mountain of the headland' or 'Rushen's mountain,' though it is also frequently referred to locally as Slieve Russell, a name shared by the well-known resort in the valley below.
• •The mountain's limestone base is riddled with subterranean features; the Pollnagollum and Tory Hole caves in Legavreagra townland are significant sites for local potholers exploring the karst drainage systems.
• •The summit plateau is home to the Slieve Rushen Wind Farm, where the service tracks provide a firm, reliable way to navigate the otherwise heavy, saturated ground of the Slieve Rushen Bog Natural Heritage Area.
• •From the top, walkers look directly across the valley to the massive, flat-topped silhouette of Cuilcagh to the west and the sprawling waters of the Upper Lough Erne basin to the north-east.
• •Between the active quarrying on the eastern slopes and the industrial wind turbines at the top, it is one of the few hills where you are more likely to be overtaken by a maintenance van than a fellow hiker.