Lost Valley of Uggool - poignant reminder of the past

I RECENTLY had the pleasure of a day's mackerel fishing on Killary Fjord and to learn some of the fascinating history attached to the inlet that divides counties Mayo and Galway, writes Tom Gillespie.

One aspect that caught my attention was that of the Lost Valley, located west of Louisburgh on the Wild Atlantic Way and sheltered beneath Mweelrea (the Bald King), the highest mountain in the west of Ireland.

The Lost Valley of Uggool, in Gaelic ‘Ubh Iolair', meaning Eagle's Egg, so the Lost Valley of the Eagle's egg is the more complete title. The Lost Valley is a poignant reminder of times gone by, the silence now undisturbed by the families who once lived and farmed here.

It offers a unique window into the cultural heritage of the west coast of Ireland in terms of 19th century way of life and the catastrophic disruptions of the Famine and its aftermath.

Indeed, the Uggool Valley is in itself arguably the finest memorial of the great famine that remains today, quilted as it is with the clearly visible remains of a multitude of potato ridges that have lain undisturbed and unattended for nearly two centuries.

In the valley visitors can take a walk back in time to when children played around the long deserted village, now overgrown with hazel and bracken, from which the villagers were cruelly evicted as the Great Famine ended so that high society could maintain their living standards. The quietude that surrounds the remains of the deserted village today is very striking in such a picturesque setting, overlooking the wild Atlantic.

The Bourke family have owned and farmed the Lost Valley of Uggool for almost a century. Before that they were employed by the landlord to farm in the valley and before that they were actually one of the families who were evicted and driven out when the roofs of their homes were pulled down.

The present owners, Gerard and Maureen Bourke, and their family became the first to enjoy safe and convenient access to their home in the valley when, in the late 1980s, they built a roadway over the mountainside. Many previous generations of the family had traversed the mountainside on foot to gain access to the valley or taken a dangerous route through the foreshore when the tide was out.

No doubt this inaccessibility contributed in a major way to the preservation of the heritage in the Lost Valley, as only the most intrepid visitors ventured in, and indeed very many of the locals say they had never seen the lost valley previously. Having completed the roadway, the family turned their attention to the creation of a looped walkway around their spectacular valley.

The Bourke family offer a six-kilometre guided three-hour walk on well developed trails, suitable for all ages, where the heritage and history of the Lost Valley will be recounted and explained in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere as visitors make their way among the different points of interest in the valley.

Over the generations many unsuccessful pleas for assistance with the building of a roadway into the Lost Valley were made. On one memorable occasion the family took court action against the Irish Land Commission to try to get them to help.

The Land Commission claimed in court that the cost of an access roadway was such that a reasonable contribution to it would be beyond their means and ‘it would be cheaper to buy a helicopter’.

A cross was erected by the Bourke family in memory of the banished, lost and forgotten and those lying there in unmarked graves.

The Rev. Fr. Patrick McManus, the local parish priest, wrote in February 1847 of the state of the parish: "A population of 12,000 persons, all of the cottier class, hitherto solely depending on the potato, now without one ray of earthly hope ... famine, fever and dysentery."

The Lost Valley is designated as an Area of Special Scenic Importance, a Special Amenity Area, a Natural Heritage Area and a Special Area of Conservation under the European Habitats Directive.

Gerard Bourke, on his website, said: "The trail leads to the entrance of Ireland's deepest glacially scoured fjord, Killary Harbour, and mile after mile of majestic unspoiled wilderness. The natural heritage of the Uggool valley is unsurpassed."

He continues: "The Lost Valley has remained largely untouched since the villagers were evicted and driven out during the Great Famine of the mid-1800s. The tumbled down walls of their cabins, the multitude of potato plots they left behind, even the stones removed from the rocky soil remain in clusters exactly as they left them, giving testimony to the hardships they endured."

As the Lost Valley is now an active working sheep farm, the Bourkes usually have pet lamb feeding for younger adventurers and give a working sheepdog demonstration and a sheep shearing demonstration in season on request. All groups are accompanied by two guides, usually Maureen and Gerard Bourke.

Gerard continued: "Many generations of Bourkes have been isolated away from the rest of Ireland, hidden behind a rugged but majestic mountain. We eventually managed to put in place a safe access to the valley and are now happy to share our heritage with visitors.

"The Lost Valley is pure, unspoiled, authentic Ireland as it used to be. The valley's natural heritage is simply unsurpassed.

"We have owned and farmed the Lost Valley for over a century. Before that our family worked as shepherds for the landlord in the valley and before that we were actually one of the families evicted from the village and the valley during the Great Famine. In fact the Bourke family have lived and farmed in tthe Lost Valley for over three centuries."

 

Visit their website at www.thelostvalley.ie for further details.