Maggie's Leap is a well known chasm located on the sea cliffs just outside of Newcastle in County Down. In the Mourne Mountain area, just down from Bloody Bridge, it gets its name after myth known for years by the locals..
Maggie was the only daughter of Deegan - a well known poacher from Killough on the Lecale Peninsula in Co. Down. He was renowned and respected for his and poaching skills throughout the area. Since the day she could walk Maggie joined her father on his hunts, and it didn’t take long for her to share her father’s skills.
Much to the disapproval of the locals, the pair headed out day and night, emptying rivers of fish and estates of deer. However, they were never caught. As food resources dwindled, the army were eventually called to help stop poachers. This eventually took it’s toll on the father and daughter duo. Deegan became older and weaker, leaving Maggie to become the sole provider.
By the time Maggie turned seventeen, she was absolutely beautiful, with her gold, flowing hair and striking smile. She used her charm on soldiers, throwing a wink towards a lonely solider so he would turn a blind eye to her activities. She would often climb down the cliff face of Dundrum Bay, down by Bloody Bridge, to fill her basket with eggs of the nesting seagulls.
One day she was spotted climbing down the cliffs by a group of drunken soldiers. They saw an opportunity to block her path and trap her at headland, backing her towards a wide sea chasm and the sea. The eggs she was carrying wasn’t the main thing on their mind. They ran at her, chasing her down the path.
Maggie was trapped. In front of her was a huge sea chasm cut into the coastline. She assessed death by drowning and deemed it a better option than what might happen if she was caught. They taunted her, exclaiming she could never make it across to the other side.
Holding tightly on to the basket of eggs, she leaped for freedom across the huge chasm, using every ounce of energy she had, landing with grace on the other side. Every egg still intact. The soldiers stood in awe at what they had just witnessed.
For many years after Maggie continued to provide for her father and mother. She never married but is still to this day remembered in the area.
The chasm in which she fled to safety, just south of Newcastle is known to this day as Maggie’s Leap.
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