A sixth-century monastic city in a glacial valley with two lakes, an intact round tower and a set of walks that are the best day out from Dublin.
What it is
Gleann Dá Loch, the valley of two lakes: a glacial valley in the Wicklow Mountains where St Kevin established a hermitage in the sixth century. It grew into a monastic city that was a centre of learning for six hundred years, was raided repeatedly by Vikings, burned by the English in 1398, and was still a place of pilgrimage into the nineteenth century.
What survives is a remarkable cluster of early medieval buildings in a valley that would be worth the trip without them.
The monastic city
The round tower, 30 metres, intact apart from a rebuilt cap. The door is 3.5 metres off the ground, which is usual — round towers were belfries and landmarks, and the raised door is structural rather than defensive, whatever the guides say about Viking raids.
The gateway, the only surviving monastic entrance of its kind in Ireland, with its antae still standing.
The cathedral, roofless, the largest building on the site.
St Kevin’s Kitchen, a stone-roofed oratory with a miniature round tower as a belfry, which is the building on every postcard.
The graveyard is still in use, which surprises people.
All of it is free and open at all times.
The walks
Nine waymarked trails from the visitor centre, and this is what turns a two-hour stop into a day.
The Green Road to the Upper Lake, flat, 3km return, suitable for anyone.
The Poulanass Waterfall and Miners’ Road, an easy 5km along the north shore of the Upper Lake to the ruins of a nineteenth-century lead mining village at the head of the valley. This is the walk to do if you do one.
The Spinc, about 9km and around 600 steps up a boardwalk to a ridge above the Upper Lake, with the best view in Wicklow. Three to four hours and a real climb.
Boots for anything beyond the Green Road. This is a wet valley and the boardwalks are slippery.
Getting there without a car
St Kevin’s Bus runs from St Stephen’s Green twice daily most days, taking about ninety minutes, and back in the afternoon. Check the return time before you set out — there are not many, and missing the last one is a taxi bill from the far side of the mountains.
Day tours from Dublin combine it with Wicklow villages and are the easier option, though they typically give the site ninety minutes.
Driving takes about an hour and the route over the Sally Gap through the mountains is one of the best drives in Ireland.
Practical
The visitor centre has an exhibition and a model, and charges admission; the site itself does not.
Two car parks, both charged. The Upper Lake one saves a 1.5km walk.
It gets very busy on summer Sundays. Early morning or a weekday in May is a different valley.
