Welcome to the Avondhu Heritage Archive

The Avondhu

The Avondhu Area of County Cork is bounded on the north by the Limerick and Tipperary county boundaries, in the east by the Waterford county boundary, in the west by the Cliath Dubh and as far south as Watergrasshill. Roughly speaking, it is a 1,000 sq km area centered around the town of Fermoy.

Its main geographic features are the Blackwater, Awbeg, Funcheon and Bride rivers, the southern slopes of the Galtee and Balluhoura mountains, and the northerm slopes of the Nagles.

Settlement

The richness of the valleys has made this area one of the first areas in Ireland to be settled, with many very early settlements discovered in recent years. During the last Ice Age, the Blackwater Valley was not glaciated and the very first settlers in Ireland are likely to have crossed from the Iberian Pensula on a landbridge through Britain about between 9,000 and 7,000 B.C. On arriving, it is very likely that they would have made their way up the Blackwater River and spreading out up its tributeries.

According to archeologist Peter Woodman, the majority of Mesolithic activity in Munster has come from the Blackwater Valley. Carbon dating of wodden platforms at Ballyoran Bog, just south of Fermoy were put at 8,280-7,965 B.C. At the time, the date was "problematic because it predates all known human activity in the area", however just a year later, an early Mesolithic (8,000 - 7,000 B.C.) site was discovered at Gortore, just north of Fermoy on the Funcheon River. Another early Mesolithic find, at Rathealy, is due to be published shortly. This establishes the Avondhu as one of the earliest areas to be settled in Ireland.

The arrival of Christianity in the seventh century is seen throughout the area. Again the early monks travelled up the same waterways and valleys as the earliest settlers. Whereever you find an ecleasiastical site, you can invariably hear the sound of running water. Today there are remains of over 150 ecleasiastical sites in the Avondhu. Many of these sites are build on or close to pre-Christian pagan sites. This demonstrates the almost seamless transition from paganism to Celtic Christianity that was so successful in Ireland.

After the arrival of Christianity and the introduction of education, farming and building technology, the area thrived to became prized lands to be gifted by a sucession of monarchs to warriors down through the ages. It is said that there are more Norman castles in the Avondhu than there are in Normandy.

Attractions

Today there are many reasons to visit the Avondhu, the scenery, the heritage, the fishing, the people. The Avondhu Way is a famous walk, 95 km long along the paths long ago travelled by the earliest settlers.