Dundermot Mound near Ballymena - Gateway to Hell?

According to Bob Curran, the Dundermot Mound near Ballymena is one of two "Gateways to Hell" in all of Ireland.

Apparently the mound has been known to open, releasing the forces of hell to all around. At the time of such an occurrence anyone in the vicinity will be sucked into it and will vanish forever.

One story which highlights this is that of a mail coach making the journey from Belfast to Londonderry in the year 1798. Apparently there was a very large price being paid for the delivery of the cargo. As the coachman, Thomas Meharg journeyed north a great storm blew up and his progress was seriously hampered. Not to be deterred by the weather, he pressed on from village to village and despite warnings offered from those at many waypoints he continued his journey. He had been told by a number of people that the Glarryford bridge had been torn down in the storm. The coach was last seen leaving Cullybackey where Meharg asked a bystander... "Is the bridge at Glarryford down?"

Legend has it that the Dundermot mound opened up and swallowed the entire coach, driver and horses - the lot. No trace of the coach was ever found afterwards.

Jim Kelso of 'Your Place & Mine' spoke to Bob Curran at Dundermot Fort - he explained that to this day unsuspecting travellers will encounter the ghost of the coach. The driver will ask; "Is the bridge at Glarryford still up?" - the story goes that anyone who answers him will die within a year.

We hear too how Dundermot is actually an old fort and the legends surrounding the place were possibly to ward off any possible attackers.

Of course the atmosphere of the story is in the way it's told and Bob Curran does tell it well!

Click Here to listen to the discussion.