Glendalough

Glendalough is where St Kevin withdrew into the Wicklow Mountains in the sixth century, and where the hermitage he started grew into one of the great monastic settlements of early medieval Ireland. Kevin died, according to tradition, around 618, and for centuries the valley was a place of learning and pilgrimage until the settlement was destroyed in 1398. What remains is scattered along the valley floor between wooded slopes: a cluster of stone churches, a cathedral, crosses and graves, and one of the finest round towers in the country.

The tower is the image everyone keeps. It is built of mica-slate and granite and stands about 30 metres high, with its entrance set some 3.5 metres above the ground. Near it stand the cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, the largest building on the site, with a chancel and sacristy added in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and the church known as St Kevin's Kitchen, a small building roofed entirely in stone with a miniature round belfry that looks like a chimney and gave it its name. The monastic enclosure is entered through a gateway with two storeys of granite arches — a rare survival.

Farther up the valley the landscape takes over. The two lakes are separated by a delta laid down by the Poulanass river, and by the Upper Lake stand Reefert Church, a nave-and-chancel building of around 1100, and on the southern shore the small Temple-na-Skellig, which could only be reached by boat. Above the water, a cave about eight metres up the cliff is known as St Kevin's Bed, partly cut by hand and said to have been the saint's retreat. The valley lies within Wicklow Mountains National Park, and its marked trails lead from the ruins up to the lakes and onto the surrounding hills.

Getting there

Glendalough is in County Wicklow, next to the village of Laragh; Tallaght on the southern edge of Dublin is about 31 km away, and Dublin Airport (DUB) about 47 km. St Kevin's Bus runs from St Stephen's Green in central Dublin via Bray (with DART connections) and Roundwood to Laragh and the Glendalough Visitor Centre, a journey of about an hour and a half.