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Is Glendalough worth seeing? It really is. Even if you are not interested in monastic and religious sites, Glendalough is definitely worth a visit for its nature, stunning views and location. It’s just the perfect escape from the city, one of the best ways to experience the best of Ireland and soak up its atmosphere.

Reasons Why Glendalough is worth seeing

Heritage, History, Beautiful Nature and Hiking. Glendalough is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, famous for early medieval monastic settlement, built in the 6th century by St. Kevin. From 1825 to 1957 there was a Galena lead mine at the end of the Glendalough Valley. Glendalough is also a recreational area for picnicking, walking on manicured trails of varying difficulty and rock climbing.

History of Glendalough

Kevin came from one of the ruling families of Leinster and studied as a boy under the tutelage of three holy men: Eoghan, Lochan and Eanna. During this time he went to Glendalough. He later returned with a small group of monks to found a monastery where “two rivers meet”. Kevin’s writings speak of his fighting “gentlemen” at Glendalough; Scholars now believe this refers to his process of self-examination and personal temptations. His fame as a holy man spread and attracted numerous followers. He died around 618, traditionally on June 3rd.

Over the next six centuries Glendalough prospered, and the Irish annals contain references to the deaths of abbots and attacks on the settlement. Around 1042 oak from Glendalough was used to build the Viking longship, the second oldest in length (approx. 30 m). A modern replica of this ship was built in 2004 and is currently based in Roskilde, Denmark.

At the Synod of Rath Breasail in 1111, Glendalough was made one of the two dioceses of North Leinster. The Book of Glendalough was written there about 1131. St. Laurence O’Toole, born in 1128, became Abbot of Glendalough and was known for his holiness and hospitality. Even after his appointment as Archbishop of Dublin in 1162, he occasionally returned to Glendalough, to the solitude of St Kevin’s Bed. He died in Normandy, Europe, in 1180. In 1176, the Tigernach Annals record that Glendalough was “sacked by foreigners”. In 1214 the dioceses of Glendalough and Dublin were united. From that point on Glendalough’s cultural and ecclesiastical status declined.

The destruction of the settlement by English troops in 1398 left it in ruins but it survived as a locally important church and place of pilgrimage. Glendalough appears as “Glandalag” on Abraham Ortelius’ 1598 map “A Modern Representation of Ireland, One of the British Isles”. Descriptions of Glendalough from the 18th and 19th centuries contain references to “tumultuous gatherings” on the feast of Saint Kevin on June 3rd.

Remains at Glendalough tell only a small part of its history. The monastery in its heyday included workshops, areas for writing and copying manuscripts, guest houses, an infirmary, farmsteads and living quarters for both the monks and a large lay population. The surviving buildings probably date from the 10th to the 12th century.

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