Glendalough

Glendalough, Gleann Dá Loch in Irish, the "valley of two lakes", was carved by a glacier in the last ice age; a moraine was left across its mouth, and the delta of the Poulanass River later divided the original lake in two. In the 6th century Kevin, a descendant of one of the ruling families of Leinster, came here to live as a hermit and founded a monastery. He died in about 618, traditionally on 3 June, and his foundation grew into one of the great monastic cities of early Ireland, with workshops, places for writing and copying manuscripts, guest houses, an infirmary, farms and a large lay population.

The settlement suffered repeated raids, and in about 1042 oak from the valley was used to build one of the longest Viking longships ever recorded. Laurence O'Toole, born in 1128, became abbot here and returned to the solitude of St Kevin's Bed even after becoming Archbishop of Dublin in 1162. In 1214 the dioceses of Glendalough and Dublin were united, and the valley lost much of its importance. English forces destroyed the settlement in 1398, but it remained a church of local importance and a place of pilgrimage.

The valley had a second, industrial life. Lead ore was mined in the valley and neighbouring Glendasan from the early 19th century, with a miners' village and processing works at the head of the Upper Lake; the mines reopened briefly from 1948 and closed for good in 1957. The valley is now part of Wicklow Mountains National Park.

Glendalough's identity is bound up with St Kevin and the pilgrims who followed him. His own writings speak of fighting "knights", which scholars read as his struggle with temptation, and stories of the hermit saint have gathered around the cave above the Upper Lake. Pilgrims long made their way here; the 30 km Saint Kevin's Way from Hollywood over the Wicklow Gap revives one of their routes and in 2016 became part of the National Pilgrim Passport for Ireland. Small crosses near the stone enclosure between the lakes seem to have been stations on a pilgrims' circuit.

The valley is also a place of outdoor recreation for people from Dublin. Walkers take the trails around the lakes and up to the Spinc, the Wicklow Way passes through, and the granite cliffs above the miners' village have been used for rock climbing since 1948. The Wicklow Walking Festival in October runs guided walks from the Brockagh Centre nearby.

The Church of Ireland still joins Glendalough's name to the capital's in its Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough. Visitors are expected to treat the graveyards and crosses with respect.

Glendalough is a valley and a monument rather than a town. Development is restricted, and apart from the visitor centre and one hotel near the monastic city, most homes, shops and places to stay are in Laragh, 3 km down the road at the junction of the routes over the mountains.

Life here revolves around visitors and the land. On summer weekends parking spaces are hard to find and the only eating place beside the sights is mobbed. Bus excursions run from Dublin every day, while the cold, wet days of late autumn are far quieter. The national park staff look after the trails and the wildlife, including the herds of red deer in the Glenealo Valley above the Upper Lake.

Weekends bring hill walkers heading for the higher summits, cyclists and motorcyclists stopping in Laragh after a run over the Wicklow Gap, and climbers on the granite crags. Walkers on the Wicklow Way pass through on their way south.

There is little to eat inside the valley itself: the hotel by the monastic city is the only place to eat beside the sights. Most visitors eat in Laragh, 3 km down the road, which has cafés and restaurants, among them Wicklow Heather on the Glendalough road and the Glendalough Green café, and bars serving food. Many walkers simply bring a picnic: the valley has long been a place for picnics by the lakes.

Representative Irish dishes include Irish stew, traditionally made with lamb or mutton, potatoes and onions, along with bacon and cabbage, colcannon and soda bread. Guinness, the country's best-known drink, has been brewed at St James's Gate in Dublin since 1759.

Because there are no cash machines in Glendalough or Laragh, and the valley's cafés and car parks are busiest at lunchtime on summer weekends, it pays to bring cash and some food from a larger town such as Dublin, Bray or Wicklow.