Slemish
Categories: Marilyns of Northern Ireland | Northern Ireland geography stubs
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OSI/OSNI grid reference:
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D221054
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Listing:
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Marilyn
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Slemish is the remains of a dormant
volcano near
Ballymena,
Co. Antrim.
Its distinctive appearance - its upper reaches are very steep and rugged, in contrast to the tidy fields on its lower slopes and all around - causes it to dominate the landscape for miles in all directions.
Tradition holds that
Saint Patrick, enslaved as a youth, was brought to this area and tended herds on Slemish, and that during this time he found God. (However, another theory contends that he spend this period in the West of Ireland.)