Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Glendalough
The steep wooded slopes of Glendalough (GLEN-da-lock, “Valley of the Two Lakes”),
at the south end of Wicklow's military road, hide Ireland's most impressive monastic set-
tlement. Founded by St. Kevin in the sixth century, the monastery flourished (despite re-
peatedVikingraids)throughouttheAgeofSaintsandScholarsuntiltheEnglishdestroyed
it in 1398. Though it was finally abandoned during the Dissolution of the Monasteries
in 1539, pilgrims kept coming, especially on St. Kevin's Day, June 3. (This might have
something to do with the fact that a pope said seven visits to Glendalough had the same
indulgence—or forgiveness from sins—value as one visit to Rome.) While much restora-
tion was done in the 1870s, most of the buildings date from the 10th-12th century.
The valley sights are split between the two lakes. The lower lake has the visitors center
and the best buildings. The upper lake has scant ruins and feels like a state park, with a
grassy lakeside picnic area and school groups. Walkers and hikers will enjoy a choice of
nine different trails of varying lengths through the lush Wicklow countryside (longest loop
takes four hours, hiking-trail maps available at visitors center).
Planning Your Time:
ParkforfreeattheGlendaloughVisitorsCentre.Visitthecenter,
wander the ruins (free) around the round tower, walk the traffic-free Green Road one mile
to the upper lake, and then walk back to your car. Or you can drive to the upper lake (more
free parking—except July-Aug, when it's €4). If you're rushed, skip the upper lake. Sum-
mer tour-bus crowds are terrible all day on weekends and 11:00-14:00 on weekdays.
Cost and Hours:
Visitors center-€3, daily mid-March-mid-Oct 9:30-18:00, mid-Oct-
mid-March 9:30-17:00, last entry 45 minutes before closing, tel. 0404/45352.
Visiting Glendalough:
Start out at the
Glendalough Visitor Centre,
where a
20-minute video provides a good thumbnail background on monastic society in medieval
Ireland. While the video is more general than specific to Glendalough, the adjacent mu-
seum room does feature this particular monastic settlement. The model in the center of
the room re-creates the fortified village of the year 1050. A browse through the interact-
ive exhibits here shows the contribution these monks made to intellectual life in Dark Age
Europe (such as illuminated manuscripts and Irish minuscule, a more compact alphabet
developed in the seventh century).
From the visitors center, a short and scenic walk along the Green Road takes you to the
round tower of the
monastic village.
Easily the best ruins of Glendalough gather around
this famous 110-foot-tall round tower. Towers like this (usually 60-110 feet tall) were
standard features in such settlements, functioning as bell towers, storage lofts, beacons for
pilgrims,andlast-resortrefugesduringVikingraids(thoughgivenenoughwarning,monks
weresaferhidinginthesurroundingforest).Thetowershadahighdoorwithapull-uplad-
der—both for safety and because a door at ground level would have weakened the tower's
