Once this valley was covered in oak wood and sheltered many famous Irish heroes, during the Desmond Rebellion and the Irish Civil War. Gerald the last Earl of Desmond, hid here until one of his own men betrayed him for a handful of silver and he  was beheaded in 1583 after months of hiding in dense woods – a plaque now marks the spot where his blood stained the earth. The loop takes us by the site of Desmond Castle; the Ravens Glen waterfall; and on to the ruins of Sean Thaigh Og’s cabin where, in 1916 Robert Monteith evaded his enemies after the unsuccessful landing of arms at Banna Strand.