THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

History and landscape are rooted deep in the psyche of the people of South Armagh.  At the centre of both sits Slieve Gullion, whose bulk looms through the mist high above the watchtowers, fields and blackthorn hedges like a slumbering giant keeping guard over South Armagh and Ulster’s ancient frontier.  At the base of the mountain, the granite peaks of the ring dyke stand sentinel as if protecting their master through the ages.  On six of the peaks stand the modern watchtowers, the latest in a long line of military fortifications built by the invader in the vain hope of subjugating the natives of a countryside in which the outsider has never been welcomed.  When the mist clears, eight counties can be seen from Slieve Gullion’s summit, 1,840 ft above sea level.

Harnden/Bandit