The Caves of Kesh are a short walk to an incredible viewpoint. These interconnecting, ancient chambers foster a sense of otherworldliness, of folklore and faeries. And maybe there is something there …

Overview

Distance: 3km total out and back (with a lot of wandering around by me)
Time: 15 - 60 minutes depending on how long you want to explore!
Parking: small car park with space for approx. 10 cars.
Trail difficulty: Easy (-ish)
There is a waymarked path, but it is very steep. The upper slopes are very exposed, and the caves themselves can be very muddy.
Read how we rate trails here.
Trail quality: 3/5
The paths between the caves are exposed, good footwear is required.
Views: 5/5
For a relatively short climb, the views are gorgeous. I especially enjoyed visiting at sunset.
Buggy/Wheelchair friendly: No
Dogs allowed: No
External links:

The Caves of Kesh (also known as the Keash Caves or the Caves of Keshcorran) are a series of limestone caves in the south-west of Sligo. Located on the west side of Keshcorran Hill (part of the Bricklieve Mountains), they consist of sixteen chambers that interconnect - if you’re daring enough to follow the narrow passages.

Carl and I had visited when we moved to the north-west in 2021, and I’d been meaning to come back with a camera ever since. Who knew somewhere so close would take me almost five years to revisit.

It’s early March as I pull into the car park in the evening sunshine. One of the first full days of sunshine we’ve had all year, and I am beaming from a day already spent outdoors. I am wearing all my winter weight base layers as the wind could still cut you in two, but right now all I’m really aware of is the sting of my cheeks and the glare off the windshield as I repack my bag before starting off on the short walk.

Leaving the small car park, you go through a kissing gate and across a field to the base of the hill. Like many hills in the area (Knocknarea and Knocknashee being two) Keshcorran is very steep-sided, with a more plateau-like top. However, we won’t be seeing the summit today.

Hug the hedge for 100 meters or so, and then the climb begins. It’s both over before you know it - and feels like you’re not making any progress. But it levels out after a few switchbacks, and gently rolls towards the entrance to the largest of the caves.

The path to the primary cave is the one that is the most developed and distinctive. If you want to visit other openings, it becomes a narrow sheep-path, and all are muddy.

And would really recommend that you do prepare to visit a few of them.

Muddy boots already donned, I skipped the primary cave as it was somewhat busy and meandered between the others. Several do interconnect, and as I stood silently in one, a slight pre-teen suddenly appeared on a ledge a couple of meters above my head. Both of us startled to see the other, I asked where she came from. “One of the narrow entrances back that way”, she answers, pointing back over her shoulder towards the main caves. I have a strong guess as to which one she meant, as I had stopped into one earlier that felt like it continued on. However, after two months of intense rain, these limestone walls are quite literally dripping wet.

The plink-plink-plink of this indoor rain creates a relaxing backdrop to the sun streaming in. All the ferns and mosses are a bright, vibrant green, reminding me of the Atlantic rainforest phrase I’ve been hearing more and more of these past few years.

Of course, with such distinct and ancient caves, there is plenty of folklore surrounding them. The first story I read when researching was of Cormac Mac Airt, a legendary high-king of Ireland. According to the story, a female wolf kidnapped him shortly after his birth, and reared him in one of the Kesh Caves (the Irish retelling of the roman myth?).

The second tale is that of the Cailleachs of Ceis (Cailleach meaning witch in Irish), where Fionn MacCumhail and the Fianna are captured and imprisoned in one of the caves by three hags of the Tuatha De Danann, only to be rescued by one of his enemies who battles fiercely to free them.

However, the story that I was told by more than one fellow visitor that evening was of a young woman tasked with caring for the bull of a local chieftain. So much did she want to impress, that when the bull went charging off, she grabbed its tail to try and stop it. It dragged her through fields and ditches, and as the sun set, into the caves themselves. The caves went so deep that hours and hours passed, and still the bull ran through the darkness. Eventually, she saw light ahead, and the exhausted bull burst out into the daylight. However, on looking around she realised that they were no longer at her homeplace but had instead come out through the Caves at Tulsk in Roscommon.

This is not the first time I’ve heard a story of caves from one place connecting to somewhere far off (Tulsk is a solid 40km+ away). When living in Tipperary as a pre-teen, I remember the ruined castle up the road from us that we would explore with the neighbouring kids. There were one or two cramped cave entrances below it, and each of us would be dared to walk slightly further - the eldest kids claiming that this would take us the whole way to Cahir Castle, some 10km away.

Moving on from my youthful antics - the caves of Kesh are a lovely place to visit for a sunset walk. There will probably be other people also visiting while you are there - I think many people add it to their “to do list” when visiting the north-west as it’s a place you can visit quickly while on the way to or from other adventures. I spent quite a bit of time here, and so got to enjoy the lulls between different groups.

As the sun dipped closer to the horizon the chatter died down, and everyone found their own quiet spot to watch. The surrounding land is a ripple of rolling hills, the hollows filling with mist as the lowering sunlight casts sharp, gorgeous shadows between them.

Most people headed off as the strongest colours begin to fade, but I wait until true dusk before bouncing my way back down the trail to the car park.