In a land where fairies and leprechauns may possibly exist, it’s not a stretch to think that we may be home to a little bit of magic too! If you’ve never seen one of Ireland’s gravity-defying roads in action, you might find it hard to believe, but
watch for yourself… These magic roads can be found in four counties, Louth, Waterford, Sligo and Tipperary. From
Ireland’s Ancient East to the
Wild Atlantic Way, these roads are ready to trick your eyes and make you believe that magic really does exist in Ireland.
You can find one of these magic roads in the Cooley Peninsula in
County Louth. Locally known as the ‘magic hill’, at a certain point on this road you can leave the handbrake off and watch as your car mysteriously rolls uphill!
The most famous of these magic roads is in the beautiful Comeragh Mountains in
County Waterford. It’s here where, yes, you guessed it, your car will mysteriously roll uphill. Some of these ‘magic roads’ may be tricky to find in Ireland, but this one is very helpfully signposted ‘The Magic Road'.
Unfortunately, as much as we would like to believe that Ireland is home to magic, these roads are just an optical illusion, and your eyes really are just playing tricks on you. The layout of the landscape makes it looks like an uphill slope when it fact it really is a downward one.
The belief in magic is so deep-seated in the Irish psyche that a motorway project was delayed because of a fairy tree! In 1999, the new road from
Limerick to
Galway was halted for ten years because locals protested that the road would destroy a tree inhabited by fairies. Workers were warned that if they disturbed the tree, tragedy would befall anyone traveling along the road. Construction workers found a way around it where the tree wouldn’t be harmed, and today people traveling along the motorway can see the tree in all its glory. But be careful, the fairies may be watching…
Can our Community members think of any other magic roads in Ireland?
