This is Larry Tam’s Loanan which runs between Clontygora Hill and the Flagstaff Hill in Fathom, alongside the stream which is the border between Armagh and Louth. In English reports of the Nine Years War it is referred as the Pace of Fedom (Pass of Fathom). Hugh O’Neill brought his armies along it in 1600 to ambush Lord Mountjoy’s forces at the Two Mile Water between Omeath and Carlingford. But it was already an ancient road then, part of the Irish equivalent of the Camino. From the late 6th century the veneration of St Patrick grew enormously and many made the pilgrimage to his grave in Downpatrick. From all over the country they came first to Faughart, then through the Gap of the North (Moyry Pass) to Carrickcarnon, over Clontygora (the Meadows of the Goats) and down through the woods to Narrowwater. There in the woods was a small monastery called Cill an Snamh (wiped out by the Vikings in 835). The monks operated a ferry and probably a hostel (albergue), and according to reports they farmed fish in ponds. Once across, the pilgrims had a two-day walk through Burren, Hilltown and Kilcoo. The portion down through Fathom Wood is choked with briars and hundreds of years of windfalls.