The Mourne Mountains

From the back of Oakleigh House bed and breakfast accommodation,
the view is of the Mourne Mountains

The Mournes were formed 50 million years ago, made of granite, an igneous rock. Over a series of ice ages they were carved by glaciers and on its last retreat 11,000 years ago the ice produced the present day Mourne skyline with its u-shaped valleys and corries. Vast quantities of sand and stone were left on the coastal plain leaving the moraine and drumlin topography of Co. Down today. Many granite boulders were left isolated on the mountains by the retreating ice. Clough Mor. Originally the area was covered in broad leafed woodland, which was cut down and today the area is farmed lowland and sheep grazed heather hillsides.
Origin of the name of Mourne
300AD Ross The Red was King of Ulster. The story tells that Red gave the grazing rights of Mourne to Boirche, and the mountains were then known as Beanna Boirche, the peaks of Boirche. Ben Crom one of the Mourne Peaks recalls the name. 1000yrs later the Mughdoma clan from the barony of Cremourne came to the area, bringing their name with them and from this the Mournes derive their name.
From 1170 until the beginning of 17th Century, this area was ruled by the clan Magennis. The many ruined castles in the area bear witness to the power and influence of this family who kept the Anglo-Norman invaders at bay. It is also recorded that the Magennis's made regular forays to harass and pillage settlements along the coast and local stories tell that locals would pray in church that god should protect them from all evil and from the terror of the Magennises.