Glendalough Valley Walk

Glendalough (Gleann Dá Loch — Valley of the Two Lakes) is the most visited walking destination in the Wicklow Mountains, and with good reason. The valley contains Ireland's best-preserved early Christian monastic settlement — founded by St Kevin in the 6th century AD and inhabited for 600 years until the monastery was finally abandoned following a series of Viking raids and Norman incursions. What remains is extraordinary: a 30-metre round tower still standing to its full height, a cathedral, six churches, a gateway arch, and dozens of grave slabs scattered across a site that feels genuinely ancient. The monastic city sits at the Lower Lake. The walking route extends further — up the valley past the Upper Lake to the quieter, wilder upper Glendalough, where the old mine workings from the 19th century speak to a different chapter of the valley's long history. The Poulanass Waterfall at the head of the valley is the natural exclamation point of the walk. The valley is designated a National Park and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The sessile oak woodland that covers the valley sides is one of the finest remnants of the Atlantic oakwood that once covered most of Ireland — it dates back at least 3,000 years in continuous form.