Granstown
Located between Rathdowney and Ballacolla and well off the beaten track, Granstown Lake has long been a haven for fishermen and nature enthusiasts. Once part of the Castletown estate, ancestral home of the Fitzpatrick’s of Upper Ossory, the lake and surrounding countryside is steeped in history and folklore. Currently under the guardianship of Dúchas, the lake and woodlands are a national nature reserve and contain a wealth of species of native Irish flora and fauna.
Located between Rathdowney and Ballacolla and well off the beaten track, Granstown Lake has long been a haven for fishermen and nature enthusiasts. Once part of the Castletown estate, ancestral home of the Fitzpatrick’s of Upper Ossory, the lake and surrounding countryside is steeped in history and folklore. Currently under the guardianship of Dúchas, the lake and woodlands are a national nature reserve and contain a wealth of species of native Irish flora and fauna.- All walks start from Car Park in Granstown Woods.
- Choose a walk to suit your capabilities.
- Guidance times are based on a steady pace with about half an hour for stops.
- Dress appropriately - wear or carry warm and waterproof clothes.
- Please observe the country code: close all gates and take litter home.
The Lake Walk
The Woodland Walk
The Lake Walk 3½ kms./ ¾ hour
Woodland Walk
A short walk through Granstown Woods leading to the lakeshore.
A. Leaving the car park, follow the forest track into the woods. Do not turn left to the lake but continue along the straight track
and around a bend.
B. Reach a blue marker pointing left and follow this to reach the lakeshore. Turn left along a gravel path by the lakeshore passing the fishing stands.
C. Continue on to rejoin your outward route and the forest track back to the car park.
Granstown Lake. Granstown Lake consists of 10 hectares (24 acres) of spring fed water, in places reaching up to 12 metres (40 feet) in depth. The naturally occurring lake was once much larger than it is today. Drainage work carried out in 1862 reduced the level by about six feet. The lake is well stocked with pike, tench, rudd, perch and roach and was once a regular fishing and hunting retreat for the family and guests of Lord Castletown who lived in Granstown Manor not far from the entrance to the lake. Crannóg. Near the centre of the lake you will notice a small island. This is in fact a man-made structure which was used as a dwelling by Bronze Age people. Crannógs were designed to protect their inhabitants from enemies and wild animals with access via a wooden causeway to the shore. Indeed when this crannóg was uncovered following the drainage of the lake a treasure trove of artifacts were found: ‘I found an enormous quantity of animal bones, two nails with large heads; a hasp; what I consider to be an arrow or spear of charred wood and a polished piece of bone like a hair pin .... I also found what I consider to be a coffin as it was boarded up and had pieces of wood for the head and feet.’, so wrote the archeologist who first examined the site.
The Woodland Walk 5 kms./ 2
Woodland Walk
A full circuit of Granstown Woods visiting an abandoned village.enroute.
A. Leave the car park, following a waymarked path though the trees. Reach the stone piles marking the old village. Follow the marked route back through the trees to emerge on a forest track.
B. Turn right and follow the forest track.
C. After c. 25 minutes, the track comes to an end. Continue on a marked path which leads down to the lakeshore. Continue on the path along the woddland edge.
D. The waymarked path leaves the forest edge and descends through the trees to cross a footbridge. Continue on the path to rejoin the forest track near the car park.
The Village in the Lake.
‘Well then’, roared the fairy. ‘As I cannot go into the water shall come to me’; and so saying, she plucked a white hair from beneath her red skull cap, murmured some words over it in an unknown jargon, flung it in the air and gave a whistle which aroused every echo of the silent valley, and the grey ruins of Fitzpatrick Castle. Legend has it that on being refused a drink from a well, in what was then a dry fertile valley, the ‘Red Fairy of Granstown’ caused the well to overflow and flood the valley submerging homesteads and villages: ‘... and the lovely vale was then and remains to this day entombed beneath the bright waveless waters of Granstown Lough’.
This story was recorded by John Keegan as ‘The Fairy’s Revenge’ in 1846.
Indeed it is still believed locally that there is a village which lies at the bottom of the lake. The village on your route was uncovered recently and undoubtedly dates from around the time of Keegan’s story. The lake at that time would have been larger and may even have bordered the well and pump shaft. This was possibly the site of a settlement of tenant farmers abandoned at the time of the famine or subsequent land acts. But then again it could be Keegan’s fairy well surrounded as he claims by daisies, primroses and bluebells, magical and bottomless.
