Plans in place to create safer and easier access to stunning O’Rourke’s Table

It is not easy to climb the steep steps up to the summit of O’Rourke’s Table, which is 144 metres above sea level.
Parents with young children have given up, fearing for their children’s safety. People aged 60+ were reluctant to make the ascent for fear of a heart attack. This is a pity.

Lying only 4.1km north of Dromahair, the plateau hill is one of the two ‘hidden gems’ of North Leitrim. The other hidden gem, because of narrow country roads and difficult parking, is Fowley Falls, only a short distance from Rossinver.

Anybody who has struggled up the steep steps to the top of O’Rourke’s Table knows the amazing view over Lough Gill, Parkes Castle and distant Knocknarea with Queen Maeve’s rocky tomb.

An alternative easier route is now being planned, with eager support from local landowners who have been assured of safety, insurance and livestock issues.

There is the pressing matter of public safety behind the new community initiative by Newtownmanor residents who live in a wide scattered area between Doonkelly, Leckaun and Bohey. Early in 2020 the steps had deteriorated, wood rotting and gravel with subsoil dangerously eroded.

Paul McDermott, a local farmer and employee of the RSS, has laboured for years to keep the steep trail open. However, due to timber decay and severe ground erosion due to weather conditions it became impossible for one man to maintain and for safety reasons the Parish decided to close it and seek help.

Kevin Comiskey, well-known hill farmer in the Leckaun-Doonkelly area near Newtownmanor, drafted a letter outlining a project to restore the public footpath accessing the steps and the creation of an alternative zig-zag, gradual step route to the summit.

A committee of concerned locals came together, including Fr Paul Casey whose parish includes Newtownmanor with its hillside church overlooking a pretty valley and nearby hills.

Bryan Fennell, Rural Recreation Officer with the Leitrim Development Company, which works closely with Leitrim County Council, drew up a report.

The report is thoughtful, serious and exciting. It outlines technical and legal measures for ensuring ecological and safety matters before, during and after completion of the project. It stresses that O’Rourke’s Table borders an SAC, special area of conservation, and that the amenity has domestic and foreign tourism potential for the area and the North Leitrim region.
Kevin McGoldrick serves as a director on the Leitrim Development Company Board, among other responsibilities.

Already with the co-operation of local farmers a local led committee established in early 2021 has started the preliminaries for upgrading the trail. A new trail was marked out by members of the Committee and RRO Bryan Fennell.

Any timber used in the construction of the trail will be treated with a preservative more appropriate to the sensitive nature of the site. Creosote is not acceptable. All waste materials will be removed when work is finished.

The Rural Recreation Officer of Leitrim Development Company is enthusiastic about the project. Concerned members of Leitrim County Council will row in with legal and funding backup when the time comes.

Meanwhile the committee has been fundraising on the internet here:

https://www.idonate.ie/ 6260_development- of-o---rourkes-table.html

Other fundraising methods will be used, such as cash collections outside shops in Dromahair and Manorhamilton. More details later.

Leitrim exiles in North America, Great Britain and further afield may be invited to see what they can do too. Canadian dollars, Australian dollars and Hong Kong dollars can easily be converted into euro by Irish banks!