Day Trips from Dublin - Dublin - page 357

St Kevin & Glendalough
In AD 498 a young monk named Kevin arrived in the valley looking for somewhere to
meditate and be at one with nature. He camped in what had been a Bronze Age tomb on
the southern side of the Upper Lake and for the next seven years slept on stones, wore an-
imal skins, maintained a near-starvation diet and befriended the birds and animals. Kev-
in's ecofriendly lifestyle soon attracted disciples and over the next couple of centuries his
one-man operation mushroomed into a proper settlement. By the 9th century thousands of
students studied and lived in a thriving community that spread over a considerable area.
Inevitably, Glendalough's success made it a key target for Viking raiders, who sacked
the monastery at least four times between 775 and 1071. In 1398 English forces from
Dublin almost completely destroyed it. Some life lingered on here as late as the 17th cen-
tury, when, under renewed repression, the monastery finally died.
The Upper Lake
The original site of St Kevin's settlement, Teampall na Skellig , is at the base of the cliffs
towering over the southern side of the Upper Lake, and is accessible only by boat; unfor-
tunately, there's no boat service to the site and you'll have to settle for looking at it across
the lake. The terraced shelf has the reconstructed ruins of a church and early graveyard.
Rough wattle huts once stood on the raised ground nearby. Scattered around are some
early grave slabs and simple stone crosses.
Just east of the lake and 10m above its waters is the 2m-deep artificial cave called St
Kevin's Bed , said to be where Kevin lived. The earliest human habitation of the cave was
long before St Kevin's era - there's evidence that people lived in the valley for thousands
of years before the monks arrived. In the green area just south of the car park is a large
circular wall thought to be the remains of an early-Christian caher (stone fort).
Follow the lakeshore path southwest from the car park until you find the considerable
remains of Reefert Church above the tiny Poulanass River. This small, rather plain, 11th-cen-
tury Romanesque nave-and-chancel church, was traditionally the burial site of the chiefs
of the local O'Toole family. The surrounding graveyard contains a number of rough stone
crosses and slabs.
Climb the steps at the back of the churchyard and follow the path to the west; at the top
of a rise overlooking the lake you'll find the scant remains of St Kevin's Cell , a small beehive
hut.