Hi all 👋🏻

Today I want to share with you my walk around the KNOCKMA FOREST PARK up the HILL from QUEEN MAEVE and the FINNVARA KING of Connacht fairies. We will also be viewing some WOODEN SCULPTURES that are spread around the forest… and look at some views from the highest point. The park is located in CAHERLISTRANE COUNTY #GALWAY ~ IRELAND 🇮🇪

With this post I’m joining in at the Wednesday Walk challenge and Make me Smile challenge. That are hosted by @tattoodjay and @elizacheng every week on Wednesday.

‼️Have a look: Here in the Wednesday Walk Community if you want to join in!… the community is run by @tattoodjay.
Look at his last Wednesdaywalk post here:
“Wednesday Walk The Quequechan River Rail Trail“
It will tell you also the rules of joining at the Wednesday walk posts 😁 come join us! It is fun!

Today’s selection will be of 74 PHOTOGRAPHS
Date: 28 JULY 2023.
The Photographs in this post are all taken with my iPhone 📱🤓
I will follow the time stamps on them. So it looks like you are experiencing my adventures on this #walk, to 💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻 #discover everything what I saw, like the little #details seen through my eyes and observe with me this #WALK through the #forest 🌲🌳 the #wooden #sculptures along the path and the #stunning #views. A little slice of county GALWAY #ireland 🇮🇪 😊

The location of the #KNOCKMAFOREST PARK you can find on the following screenshot of Google maps with the yellow star ⭐️ :
Zooming out we get the following screenshot from Google map :

Some information about the TRAILS OF KNOCKMA FOREST PARK and the HILL you find in the following website: Galway tourism!

More information I found here: Discover Ireland KNOCKMA hill of MAEVE!

It tells us the following informations;

Knockma Hill stands at 170m high and is the most prominent landmark in Caherlistrane in County Galway. It is legendary burial place of Queen Maeve and, in folklore, Knockma was the seat of Finnvara, King of Connacht fairies. The many ancient remains, including cairns, underground passages and forts, are evidence of a major place of settlement stretching back to pre-Christian times.

In fact, this area is estimated to have been inhabited as far back as 7,000 years ago and has been a place of myth, magic and mystery ever since. In the recent past, Coillte have constructed a high-quality tarmacadam drive and parking facilities at the entrance to Knockma. This provides easy access to the wonderful walks and delightful beauty of Knockma. The Knockma Hill area, with its ancient castle and idyllic Castlehackett House, is an inspirational paradise and well worth a visit for a relaxing afternoon.

So interesting to read, I love discovering places with so much history… and MAGIC
Without further ado 😉

Are you coming along for this wondrous walk… ?
Ok 😎 let’s goooooooooooooooooooooo

At the car park we find the following sign with the different trails on them.

Knowing me… you know we will go and add the best view points to the longest trail /green one 😎
The first part of the trail is a nice wide lane, surrounded by vegetation and trees 🌳
We see a fence…
Looking closer it has little houses and doors on it made by the local children 😊
Curious… we open some of the little doors 🤓
Aren’t they cute ☺️
Behind some of the doors we find these little toys 🧸
If I would have known, I would have taken some more toys… and hid them behind the doors for children to find.
Next time I go here for a walk I will do so 🥰🧸
We continue our walk…
On the left we find castle ruins… the plants 🌱 are creeping all over it.

We couldn’t reach the castle to check it out. Funnily it did have a FOR SALE sign on it. How cool would it be to buy this property and fix it up 🤓 hhmmm the thoughts 💭 that are popping up now 😋

The walls next to us have many mosses and little plants all over them.
Walking further we look back one time at the ruins…
The little signs we will be following into the forest and up the hill 🌳🌳😎 yep… we go up a steep hill again today 😊
We pass by this interesting field and sign…
We can read that a ’Scene from MGM’s ALFRED THE GREAT was filmed here in 1968’

That pretty awesome…
It’s this field.
Walking along it on this trail, slowly going up.
We are on some crossroads now and will be entering the forest.
This beech tree stands out, just look at its roots 🌳🌳🌳🌳
The KNOCKMA WOOD SIGN on the left.
And some seating area on the right… little mushroom seats / tables 🍄😋
All the trees 🌳 🌲 we can find here.
And the first of the wooden sculptures… believe me, we will see many many more…
The trees around us get thicker 🌳🌲🌳🌲🌳🌲
Some mushrooms… I did find many and will share them soon ☺️ do you see them?
Views…
Some benches along the way… with a crow next to it 😎
The view to the right shows a hidden hut, do you see it? Who might live there? Forest creatures… fairy kings… 🤴🏻🧚🏻‍♀️
Let’s check out the crow 🖤 beautifully sculpted out of wood.
As we walk further we see some views down the hill.
The path is getting smaller.
We find a #fox, staring at us 😎
The greens are intense… I love walking through a forest to recharge… breath in all what nature has to offer 🌳🌲
The green moss covering all the trees… it makes the atmosphere magical 😎
Little hiding places for the fairies 🧚🏻‍♀️
The dense moss on a trunk… 💚💚💚

Such a beautiful place…

Look at the little fern 🌱🌱🌱
More #mushrooms / #fungi
It feels like we are walking in a thick forest now with here and there open areas.
We climb up the hill the see one of the cairns.
Standing next to it, we see it isn’t in a good shape.

We decide to walk down again into the forest and follow the trail further.
We see little wooden houses, look HOW CUTE 🥰
A few more…

Let’s check them out 😎
This one has many little houses sculpted out of this tree 🧚🏻‍♀️🧚🏻‍♀️🧚🏻‍♀️ many fairies could live here.
A castle 🏰 with steps and a bridge and towers 🏰
Walking around it to see more angles 😎 so beautiful!
It has the following writing carved into it: ’Helping hand. PLACE YOUR HAND HERE AND LEAVE YOUR WORRIES WITH ME’

Let’s do just that…. 🥰🍀
Another little house I capture for you before we walk further again.
I see a bench…
…and left from it this ruin.
One of its corners. It feels…. Ancient 🙂
I admire the trees 🌳 in this forest… they are beautiful. Old souls… if only they could talk 🖤💚
Let’s check out the bench and its #carvings.
The owl is staring right at us. 🦉

Did you see the mouse 🐁
The other side of the bench…
I look back and see almost all these sculptures spread around.
We are following both trails further.
Another little house 🏡
Closer look 😊
These trees 🌳 are just AWESOME… they are leading the way up to the view points and the castle remains of KING Finvarra and the knights tower.
Almost…
The remains are not really there anymore. But we can imagine… can’t we 😉🏰
Let’s look at the views. I see lakes… and some #awesome #clouds
Looking at the clouds ☁️
View towards the left… it is lighter that way.
Slowly turning… a view to the middle…
Stunning 🤩
We walk back into the forest towards the green trail and continue our path.
I see some #squirrels 🐿️
You know I love ❤️ details… how could I not notice this flower 🌸 on his head. As you know… include #alwaysaflower in your posts 😉
A few more mossy details… we see.
And we are back at the cross roads.
Walking towards the car we see on the left this field with cows 🐮
And the hill of legends, myths and magic above it 😊

One sure could feel the magic wandering these woods 🌳🌲🌳🌲💚

…and here I say that’s all for today’s post my friends.
Join me next time for more #updates, #adventures, #stories and #photographs 😎👋🏻
Even my own #artworks, once in a while, will come by” 🎨
Thank you so much for looking, and reading.

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Any questions or comments, let me know. Always happy to help.

Have a great Wednesday all 😎
Grtz Jackie

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If you want to see where I traveled to and what I already shared in @pinmapple, have a look at my personal map here: Littlebee4 PINMAPPLE MAP

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