Attraction in County Wicklow

Glendalough, meaning the valley of the two lakes in Irish, is one of the most important and most visited early Christian monastic sites in Ireland, a settlement established in the sixth century by St Kevin in a glaciated valley in the Wicklow Mountains that grew into one of the most significant centres of learning and religious life in early medieval Ireland and whose extensive ruins, dramatically set between two lakes in a valley of great natural beauty, make it one of the most evocative heritage sites in the country. St Kevin sought this remote valley in the Wicklow Mountains as a hermitage in the tradition of the Desert Fathers, the contemplative impulse toward withdrawal from society that animated much of the early Celtic church. The quality of the valley, its remoteness, the dramatic rock walls and the two lakes providing both isolation and sustenance, made it an ideal hermitage location, and the community that gathered around Kevin grew rapidly after his death into one of the most important monasteries in Ireland, a centre of learning and manuscript production that attracted students from across Ireland and from Britain. The ruins of the monastic settlement are extensive and varied. The Round Tower, rising over 30 metres to a conical cap, is one of the finest and most complete in Ireland, its narrow doorway set high above the ground to exclude hostile visitors and its visibility from the surrounding hills serving as both landmark and bell tower for the monastery. The Cathedral, the largest of several churches in the complex, and the diminutive St Kevin's Kitchen with its distinctive belfry, its stone roof surviving intact, are the most celebrated buildings in the lower valley settlement. The upper lake at the head of the valley, wilder and more remote than the lower lake, provides excellent walking in the Wicklow Mountains National Park surrounding the site.

Powerscourt Estate in County Wicklow is home to one of the most celebrated gardens in Ireland and one of the finest country house gardens in Europe. The estate lies in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains some 20 kilometres south of Dublin, and the combination of formal garden design, panoramic mountain views and the dramatic backdrop of the Wicklow landscape gives it a grandeur matched by very few garden settings anywhere in these islands. The castle that originally stood here dates from medieval times, but the present house was built in the mid-eighteenth century to designs by Richard Castle, one of the most distinguished architects working in Ireland at the time. The Paladian house was partially gutted by fire in 1974, a disaster that destroyed most of the historic interior, and has since been restored as a visitor attraction with shops and a café within the shell of the old house. It is the gardens, however, that bring most visitors to Powerscourt. The terraced Italian garden on the south front of the house, laid out in the 1840s and 1850s by the sixth Viscount Powerscourt and the garden designer Daniel Robertson, descends in a series of formal stone terraces decorated with iron work, classical statuary and seasonal plantings toward a circular pool and then the Triton Pool below. The Great Sugarloaf Mountain fills the horizon beyond the pool, providing a backdrop of dramatic natural scenery that frames the formal garden composition to extraordinary effect. On a clear day this is one of the most beautiful views in Ireland. Beyond the formal terraces, Powerscourt encompasses Japanese and walled gardens, a pet cemetery, a cascade and a wide variety of woodland, bringing the total garden area to around twenty hectares. The JICA Japanese Garden, one of the finest in Britain and Ireland, was created in the early twentieth century and provides a serene counterpoint to the grandeur of the Italian terraces. Seasonal highlights include the rhododendrons and azaleas of spring and the changing colours of the parkland trees in autumn. Powerscourt Waterfall, located separately about six kilometres from the main house, is the highest waterfall in Ireland at approximately 120 metres, and a pleasant woodland walk leads to views of the fall where the Dargle River drops dramatically from the mountain above. Together the estate and the waterfall constitute one of the finest full day visits available in the Wicklow area.