We all love a tale or two especially when it comes to Irish folklore but did you know Ireland is famous for it's 'fairy hills'?
We all love a tale or two especially when it comes to Irish folklore but did you know Ireland is famous for its 'fairy hills'?
Believed to be a place where fairy magic trumps gravity, Ireland's magic hills are becoming increasingly popular in recent years, with many wanting to know whether the legends are true.
The urban legend explanation for these magic roads say that you are, in fact, trespassing on sacred land and fairies are pushing you away.
In Ireland, there are four main magic roads located in Waterford, Down, Sligo and Louth. However, just like The Gravity Room in Explorium, Ireland's magic roads are just an illusion, a convincing one at that.
The Magic Tree, Waterford, Ireland! Marks beginning of a 'magic road’. Turn off your car’s engine & let off your handbrake, your car will travel up the hill! Original tree cut down by vandals in 2011, but new landmark has been planted. #FolkloreThursday https://t.co/7KQyciyjlK pic.twitter.com/T62tYPqLVD— Lorraine Mulholland (@lorraineelizab6) January 24, 2019
Due to the angles of each of the hills surrounding each road, it looks like you’re rolling up the hill when you are, in fact, rolling down.
To let your kids experience the magic road, simply stop your car in the right spot on any of the roads, pop it into neutral and take your foot off the break. Your car will literally roll uphill.
The most popular sign posted magic roads in Ireland is known as Fairy Hill which can be found near Mahon Falls in the Comeragh mountain of Waterford, roughly ten minutes from Dungarvan. The starting point is mapped by a Wishing Tree and a boulder with the words 'Magic Road' carved into it.
Other gravity-defying wonders include near Spelga Dam in Down, close by the Long Woman's Grave in the Cooley Mountains in Louth and there is another located just north of Benbulben in Sligo.
@hectoron2fm Magic Road near Benbulben. If you stop your car and turn off handbrake your car rolls up the hill— Fintan Gillespie (@fintangillespie) August 28, 2012
On the way home from walking around Silent Valley today, I stopped by the Magic Hill at Spelga Dam to see if the magic was still there. To my kids amazement it absolutely is and our car flew up that hill. Unfortunately I still can’t properly explain to them how it works... pic.twitter.com/2l9BvIKU8T— Alastair Allen (@alastairallen) January 2, 2019
Kellie Kearney is a Dublin mammy of 4 kids aged 2, 3, 4 and 8 (and she is expecting baby #5 in May). A self-confessed procrastinator and picker-upper of things, Kellie would never turn down a coffee and she loves to travel and share every day true to life moments on Instagram of her expanding family. Follow her daily adventures on Instagram.