Bothar an Iarla Ruaidh or the Red Earls Road — Cloghoge Lower

The Red Earl's Road, probably of medieval origin, linked the towns of Ballymote, Co. Sligo and Boyle, Co. Roscommon, by a route around the N and E sides of the Bricklieve Mountains (M. A. Timoney 1998, 155), a distance of c. 21km. It is said to have been built by Richard de Burgh, The Red Earl of Ulster, after the Norman conquest, to link his castle (SL033-092----) at Ballymote with Boyle Abbey (RO006-068005-), Co. Roscommon. The road traverses a number of townlands over a number of 6-inch sheets (OS 33: Bellanascarrow West/Roscrib East/Roscrib West/Ballinvoher; OS 34: Drumcormick/ Bricklieve/Tiraree; OS 40: Cloghoge Lower/Carrowkeel/Mullaghfarna/ Doonaveeragh/Knockroe/Cuilsheeghary More/Mountgaffeny/Ballinafad/Gortalough/ Ballaghboy/Cartron; OS 45: Ballaghboy/Cartron). Sections of the road are recorded under five records (SL033-147----; SL034-159----; SL040-023----; SL040-197----; SL040-190----) commencing at Ballymote and following the route E and then S to the county boundary with Roscommon. Only sections of the road are indicated on the 1914 and 1941 OS 6-inch maps even though it was, of course, continuous. A possible link road between Bothar an Iarla Ruaid and Bothar an Corran (SL033-145----) goes from Greenan townland, around the S side of the Bricklieve Mountains, to Ballinafad. At its nearest point, Bothar an Corran is c. 0.8km to the SW. This section (SL040-023----) shown on the 1914 edition of OS 6-inch map comprises a 400m stretch (long axis NW-SE) which is evident in places as a grass-covered rut (Wth 3.9m; D 0.6m) crossing the top of a drumlin. A further section (SL040-197----) of the road is c. 1.2km to SE. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005). Date of revision: 1 June 2011