Folklore & legend

The Speaking White Horse of Benaughlin

Benaughlin Mountain, Fermanagh

Tradition; the festival custom is long past

Wikipedia says that people used to climb Benaughlin on the last Sunday of July for the Lughnasa festival, and that according to folklore a large white horse, An Chopail Ban, would appear on the hill each year and speak to them. The mountain's Irish name, Binn Eachlabhra, is thought to mean peak of the speaking horse.

The Cuilcagh Lakelands Geopark describes it as a mythical white horse that would appear every Bilberry Sunday to foretell the future, which fits the same gathering, since Bilberry Sunday is the local name for the late summer day when people picked bilberries. The Lough Erne Pilgrim Way has a story titled The White Horse of Benaughlin and the first Maguire King of Fermanagh. Only its introduction was reachable.

The horse is told as a prophetic creature of the hill, not a ghost. It is included as part of the mountain's cluster of traditions with Donn na Binne.

Evidence
Long-standing local tradition
Access
Public footpath only
Location
54.229, -7.728 (Parish-level only, treat as an area)

Sources: Wikipedia, "Benaughlin Mountain" [other]; Cuilcagh Lakelands Geopark, "History and Folklore" [other]; Lough Erne Pilgrim Way, Folklore [other]

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