There are some references to the mountains in Irish literature. A notable one is from Brian Merriman in his Cúirt an Mheán Oíche from the 18th Century.
Ba ghnáth mé ar siúl le ciumhais na habhann
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In aice na gcoillte i gcoim an tsléibhe
Gan mhairg gan mhoill ar shoilseadh an lae.
Do ghealadh mo chroí nuair chínn Loch Gréine,
An talamh, an tír, is íor na spéire
Ba thaitneamhach aoibhinn suíomh na sléibhte
Ag bagairt a gcinn thar dhroim a chéile.
Translation of underlined:
By the edge of the woods on the wild mountainside
At the dawn of the day I'd cheerfully stride.
This might indicate, if not for the requirements of metre and rhyme, that he was accustomed to walk in the hollows or cooms (cwms) of the mountains and simply for the pleasure of doing so.
The Rapparees:
This was a cohort of 'outlaws' that used the hills and mountains as a place of refuge from the authorities. The poem 'Eamon an Cnoic' is the story of Ned Ryan, an 18th Century rapparee, who was a folk hero in Co Tipperary. He may have used the hills and mountains of Tipperary, as the poem's title indicates, as a base from which to operate as others did in different parts of the country.
This may be meagre evidence but it does indicate that the uplands and mountains were being frequented by the people and for a variety of reasons up to modern times.
