The new cultural, historical and political tours in south Armagh stand testament to the 19th century writer's statement.

Departing from the Ti Chulainn Centre in Mullaghbane, an hour's drive from both Dublin and Belfast, the tour begins with a short audio-visual presentation of the history of the area in the centre's theatre.

The video presentation sets the scene for the ensuing drive around the area that takes you on a journey through south Armagh's history from preChristian times to today's peaceful place with a fledgling tourism industry.

After the 12-minute video presentation, you are introduced to Kevin Murphy, a retired teacher of English literature and politics, who acts as tour guide through the area where he has lived for his whole life.

Murphy's passion for this place is infectious. Within minutes of pulling off from the Ti Chulainn Centre, you realise that you have been given the keys to a treasure chest of anecdotes that will entertain you throughout the tour.

Through the village of Mullaghbane, the first destination on the tour is the border village of Forkhill. As the road straddles the border, Murphy tells tales of the way local people used the political fault line to their advantage in the past.

Pointing at a dilapidated old shed, he explains: "One half of that shed is in the North and the other in the South. I can remember when it was an illegal shebeen in the 1960s. The authorities on either side of the border could never catch anyone drinking in it as people just moved to the appropriate side to avoid them."

Arriving in Forkhill, the landscape is dominated by the ugly metal walls of the British army base in the village that has just been demilitarised in the past year. Murphy takes his visitor inside the walls of the army base that British soldiers could only leave and enter by helicopter. Standing inside the ruins of the base, you can see the helipads and a large Union flag painted on the ground that reminds locals of recent times.

"The history of Armagh is one of abandoned forts. They have existed from pre-Christian times to the last few years. This is the latest abandoned fort in the area, " says Murphy.

The rugged hills overlooking the base housed large spy posts until recently and Murphy points out where tricolours now fly in places where the watchtowers previously stood.

From Forkhill, Murphy takes his visitor to the ancient graveyard on Faughart Hill which overlooks Dundalk.

"The history of this area is so rich that we even have connections to the film Braveheart, " he explains as he stands over the grave of Edward Bruce who died in 1318.

Elsewhere in the graveyard, Murphy points to evidence that "pagan voodoos still exist here to this day". . . a holy well to which people come from all over the country in the belief that their ills will be cured.

"This was historically one of the most strategically important hills in Ireland as it looks into the 'Gap of the North'."

From Faughart Hill, we drive to the Three Steps Pub in Dromintee, where British undercover agent Captain Robert Nairac disappeared in 1976 before being taken across the border and shot.

Murphy's tour ranges from south Armagh's earliest history to more recent times, when it was labelled 'Bandit Country' by Merlyn Rees, much to the anger of locals.

Along the maze of small roads we pass a farmyard shed and Murphy points out that it is the scene where business tycoon Ben Dunne was found after his high-profile kidnapping in 1981. A few hundred yards after the hay shed, we come across a spectacular Norman castle.

"This marks the old border where Gaelic Ireland and Planter Ireland meet and shows that the steep history of this area is one that has always been marked by borders, " says Murphy.

After the Norman castle, Murphy takes you to an eerie spot called Coolderry Street, a cluster of abandoned houses, and the site where IRA man Seamus Harvey was shot in June 1977.

From there, he takes you to Crossmaglen, into the town square where large numbers of British soldiers were shot during the Troubles.

Known locally as 'Cross', the town is growing away from its troubled past, and is now thriving with the new Cross Square Hotel . . . where the tours stop off for a short break . . . one of the most obvious signs of a new age for the town.

Through the village of Cullyhanna, the tour finishes back at the Ti Chulainn Centre in Mullaghbane where Murphy concludes his myriad of tales.

American university groups are the most common participants on the tours to date, while Murphy hopes that the coming year will see more school tours and tourist groups visit this lesser-spotted haven.

Tours of south Armagh can be arranged by contacting the Ti Chulainn Centre in Mullaghbane at 048-30888828.