The cache is placed on
Black Island
It's a nice walk through Dartry Forest - about 20-25 mins each way - there is a bridge to cross to the island. The path can be a bit muddy in a few places, but mostly it's fine. Enter at the parking waypoint: No 4 on the map, near Tanagh - and follow the path, you will be on various types of path all the way till the last couple of meters.
The cache is a sandwich size box covered with black material
The name Dartrey once referred to a tribe of people in this area. The Dartrey Forest is a walled estate now owned by Coillte Teoranta (the National Forestry Agency). It contains a wonderful collection of fine period oak trees, some of the largest in Ireland. The forest supports a rich bio-diversity of insects, moths, bats, buzzards, jays, herons,ravens, red squirrel, sitka & fallow deer.
The Iron Bridge
The estate was once owned by the Dawson family, who gave their name to streets in Dublin and nearby Monaghan town.
Most of the family are buried in the near by St.John's Church.
Near the cache site you will see a structure: The Temple. This 30 foot high neoclassical temple housing a great sculpture was built by Thomas Dawson MP, the then owner of the Dartrey estate, to commemorate his first wife, Anne Fermore. She died in 1769 aged 36 years. He spared no expense and engaged the best architect - James Wyatt - and a famous sculptor - Joseph Wilton - from London. The Temple was modelled on The Pantheon in Rome and has a dome and oculus (providing interior light)
Thomas Dawson could see The Temple across the Inner Lough from his house on the opposite bank (what, we wonder, was the attitude of his second wife, who he married in 1770 the year after his first wife died, as she watched the building of this great memorial to her predecessor!)
Over the next two centuries this unsecured mausoleum deteriorated badly. It became roofless, the statue was vandalised and despite help from the Georgian Society, both became almost beyond recall. But in 2003 the newly formed Dartrey Heritage Association decided to resore this once fine building and statue, as part of a programme to reinstate important historical structures on the Dartrey Estate. Despite ongoing work, it's still in a sorry state, but must have been magnificent up on the hill before the forest grew up around it.
The Temple before the forest grew up The path from the Temple now
You've found the cache , so what now?
You can continue on the path you were on - before veering off towards the Temple - thereby completing the smaller circle around half of the island & this will take around the same time as doubling back.
This will bring you back to The Iron Bridge.
Or you can continue on around the full circle of Black Island, adding maybe 20 minutes to your walk - this will also bring you back to the Iron Bridge -
please check the map for a range of options.
If you have extra energy, on the far end of the island is a path to the left, which brings you off the island to Faddin Hill, this path winds through some of the oldest trees in the forest, a grove of 200-year-old oak and beech trees.
Walking through gives the feeling of being in a natural cathedral, with tall pillars of trees stretching towards the sky on each side.
Dartrey Forest
Dartrey - Paradise Lost -The Bonus cache -GC2JCTD requires you to visit this cache site and make a note of the following - maybe you want to gather this information when you're here? -
How many round windows are there? Answer = A
How may pillars flank the entrance? Answer = B
How many windows on the ground floor? Answer = C
Enjoy