Corn Hill

History & Names:

The ancient names given to the hill are found in the Book of Lecan (1397-1418) and the Book of Ballymote (1390–1391). The earliest recorded name for the hill was Sliabh Uillenn from Uillenn of the Red Sphere, son of Fionn. In Irish mythology, Furbaidhe (or Furbaide) Ferbend is said to be buried at the summit of Corn Hill, where he was killed in an act of revenge for his slaying of Queen Meadhbh. 

“Lughaidh went to be avenged of Furbaidhe, and killed him at the summit of Sliabh Uillenn and he made his carn there.” (Book of Lecan, fol.252a)

The name Sliabh Cairbre has also been used for the hill, and is derived from the pre-Norman Kingdom of Cairpre Gabhra, from the Irish ‘Cairbre Ua gCiardha’ meaning the descendants of Cairbre. Cairbre mac Néill was a brother of Maine and son of the High King Niall Uí Néill (Niall of the Nine Hostages). Between the 5th and 12th centuries, an Irish sept claiming descent from Uí Caibre ruled a barony of North Teathbha, including the hill. In medieval times the Clonmaicne, a people of early Ireland who settled in Connacht & Longford, occupied much of North Teathbha and named the high lands of the region Sliabh Cairbre. The Sliabh Cairbre name actually referred to the hilly area extending from the hill to Arva in County Cavan, which also included heights at Edenmore, Gague, Aughadowry, Lettergunnell, Cornafunshion, Leggga, Moyne, Firmullagh, Crott and Aughaga. These heights marked the northern boundary of what was later, under the O’Farrells, the territory of Annaly (now Longford).

The name Carn Clonhugh came from the Clann Aodha sept of the O’Farrell’s who lived in the vicinity of the hill and named it Carn Clann Aodha or Carn Clonhugh. The name Corn Clonhugh appeared on maps in the 19th century.

One of the earliest cartographic reference is found in 1837, as Carn Clonhugh on the Ordnance Survey Ireland six-inch map. From the end of the 1800’s the hill appeared on Ordnance Survey maps as Corn Hill (a corruption of Carn).

Cairns & Passage Graves:

Two visible carns or cairns have been recorded on the hill. Both are likely considerably older than the legends connected with them. The principal cairn and its smaller neighbour may have been built by Neolithic tomb builders, making them as old as the pyramids of Egypt.

The largest of the cairns on the highest point of the hill at 912 feet was noted as 18 metres in diameter and 3 metres in height. A small central chamber approached by a passage from the northeast side was reported by locals in the early 1900’s. A trigonometrical station was installed on top of the cairn in 1960, partially damaging it. An excavation took place before installation of the trigonometrical station, and cremated bone were reported as recovered from a central rectangular chamber before it was then filled in with stones. The second and smaller cairn is about 55 metres west of the principal one, along the spine of the hill, but at a lower height of 896 feet, and was noted to be around 9 metres in diameter.

The presence of passage grave structures on the hill gives it archaeological significance. Recorded accounts of a passage and chamber at the larger cairn, and the siting of the hill between the two passage grave cemeteries of Loughcrew (Meath) and Carrowkeel (Sligo), supports the theory that the two cairns on the hill mark historic passage graves which may date back to the Neolithic period, around 2500 B.C.

It was once assumed that the passage grave people left none of their burial monuments on their journey west from Meath to Sligo. However, a few small groups of monuments are recorded, including two at the summit of Corn Hill, four at Shegeeragh, south of Tulsk in County Roscommon and a small group at Sheemore, Sheebeg and Fenagh in County Leitrim.

Transmitter Mast:

The television and radio transmitter site on the hill is called the Cairn Hill Transmitter. The original transmitter began broadcasting on 3rd April 1978 and stood 123 metres tall. It was the first UHF television transmission site in the country and was constructed to facilitate the introduction of the second television channel on UHF. The location was selected to cover an area of poor reception in the Irish midlands, and when it opened it was the most powerful television transmitter in the country.

In 1998 the distinctive red and white transmitter mast was replaced with a 136 metre transmitter. In later years two additional television channels were added, and Digital Terrestrial Television (Saorview) broadcasts began from the hill in 2009, with analogue services ending nationally in 2012. Today the transmission site, owned and operated by 2RN (a subsidiary of RTÉ), provides Saorview to an extensive area in central Ireland and into the North. FM radio transmission from the site began in 2005 with RTÉ Radio 1 initially, but since 2023 all RTÉ radio stations, along with some independent national stations and local radio stations are broadcast from the transmitter on Corn Hill.

Scenery & Customs:

On a clear day, and without the obstruction of trees, you can count the lakes on the Shannon’s silver line, the lakes of Gurteen & Corbeagh near Ballinalee, Lough Gowna and the lakes that form an uneven line between Leitrim and Longford, and the distant lakes of Lough Iron and Lough Derravaragh in Westmeath – which in Irish mythology nested the ill-fated Children of Lir. Longford town and the villages of Ennybegs, Drumlish, Ballinamuck, Ballinalee, Granard, Newtownforbes, Aughnacliffe and others are all visible from the peak. As you count the counties, you can also see where the three provinces of Leinster, Connaught and Ulster meet, and in clear skies, Slieve Bán and the heart of Connacht across Sliabh an Iarainn can be seen.

Locals traditionally climb the hill on the first Sunday of June, and in the past would stand on the mescon (misgaun) at the principal cairn, which marks the highest point in Longford. In 2018 RTÉ and Longford County Council signed a Licence Agreement to develop a walking trail up to and around the top of the hill and a walking trail subsequently opened to the public, however access to the principle cairn remains restricted and the area around it overgrown.