Glendalough

Glendalough, the Valley of the Two Lakes, is one of the finest early Christian sites in Ireland and a highlight of a private Wicklow day tour from Dublin.

Glendalough is renowned for its Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. His fame as a holy man spread and he attracted numerous followers. He died in about 618. For six centuries afterwards, Glendalough flourished and the Irish Annals contain references to the deaths of abbots and raids on the settlement.

The destruction of the settlement by English forces in 1398 left it a ruin but it continued as a church of local importance and a place of pilgrimage. The buildings which survive probably date from between the 10th and 12th centuries.

The Gateway to the monastic city of Glendalough is one of the most important monuments, now totally unique in Ireland. It was originally two-storied with two fine, granite arches. The antae or projecting walls at each end suggest that it had a timber roof. Inside the gateway, in the west wall, is a cross-inscribed stone. This denoted sanctuary, the boundary of the area of refuge. The paving of the causeway in the monastic city is still preserved in part but very little remains of the enclosure wall.

The Round Tower built of mica-slate interspersed with granite is about 30 meters (98 feet) high, with an entrance 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) from the base. The conical roof was rebuilt in 1876 using the original stones. The tower originally had six timber floors, connected by ladders. The four stories above entrance level are each lit by a small window; while the top story has four windows facing the cardinal compass points. Round towers, landmarks for approaching visitors, were built as bell towers, but also served on occasion as store-houses and as places of refuge in times of attack.

The Cathedral is the largest and most imposing of the buildings at Glendalough, the cathedral had several phases of construction, the earliest, consisting of the present nave with its antae. The large mica-shist stones which can be seen up to the height of the square-headed west doorway were re-used from an earlier smaller church. The chancel and sacristy date from the late 12th and early 13th centuries. The chancel arch and east window were finely decorated, through many of the stones are now missing. The north doorway to the nave also dates from this period. Under the southern window of the chancel is an ambry or wall cupboard and a piscina, a basin used for washing the sacred vessels. A few meters (several yards) south of the cathedral an early cross of local granite, with an unpierced ring, is commonly known as St. Kevin's Cross.