June 27, 2009
The entire island could be considered one large garden, but the Wicklow Mountains and the surrounding areas, are perhaps some of the most scenic spots in the country. My father certainly raised my expectations when he said that Wicklow was perhaps the second most beautiful place he had seen (the first being Killarney).
We left in the morning to drive around County Wicklow. Wicklow in Gaelic is Cill Mhantáin and translates as "Church of the Toothless One". Folklore says that St. Patrick attempted to land on the beach and was attacked by some of the locals. He supposedly lost a tooth but returned to the town to establish a church.
The county is also home to Glendalough (Gleann Dá Loch or Glen of Two Lakes). The place is famous for the monastic settlement established in the 6th century by St. Kevin. The creative names of the two lakes are the Upper Lake and the Lower Lake.
Our first photo stop for Wicklow. I'm not quite sure which lake is in this picture, but they are both quite large. We were also blessed with a hot and sunny day (a very rare thing in Ireland).
We reached the monastic settelement of Glendalough and were given a guided tour of the main attractions. This here is the Round Tower which was used as a storage facility and watchtower when the settlement was attacked.
The main cathedral of Glendalough. There many tombstones inside the cathedral and the size and detail of the stones reflected the wealth of the deceased person.
There were graves that surrounded the Round Tower, the cathedral, and many other parts of th settlement. This picture also shows the tall Celtic crosses that are very famous here. These crosses show a mixture of Irish heritage - the cross as a symbol of Christianity and the circle (which represents the sun), an important symbol of the Celts.
I do not know the name of the person who lies in this grave, but the cross itself is surrounded by folklore. If a person manages to wrap their arms around the entire cross, it is said that 1) the wish of that person will come true and 2) that person will return to see Glendalough once more. I am a small person, so my arms did not fit around, but several of the guys from our group managed to accomplish it.
Both of these pictures are of lovely valley and the Lower Lake from the path that leads to the Upper Lake.
The Upper Lake and the surrounding mountains.
The four pictures above, from to right to left, are my attempt to portray a panoramic view of Luggala Estate, home to Garech Browne. Luggala (Log an Lágh, meaning "Hollow of the Hill") is actually the name of the mountain behind the lake. Garech Browne is a member of the Guinness family and heir to a portion of their vast wealth. His home, which can be faintly seen in the first and second pictures, have been visited by the likes of Tiger Woods and Michael Jackson. The lake itself is called Guinness Lake, due to the dark (almost black) surface and the cream colored beaches (which resembles the thick foam that forms on top of a pint of Guinness).
I never ceased to be amazed at how much greenery the island has. It seems to defy the painter and photographer. Some of the greens are so vivid that they look almost fake and it is amazing how so many different greens can be seen all at once.
It struck me, after seeing the beauty of Kerry, Dingle, Northern Ireland, and Wicklow, how terribly ironic it was that this country suffered from a horrible famine that killed millions of people. It seems impossible that people living on such green and lush land would ever die of starvation. It must have been impossible as well to leave the country and go to a foriegn place that would be nothing like their homeland.
All in all, County Wicklow was indeed very beautiful and I was happy to see it on such a lovely day. However, I was upset that our tour was very short and we hardly stayed at the monastic settlement for five minutes. There was so much to see in Wicklow and it would be nice to hike up a hill or just sit and breathe in some fresh air. The tour guides are always pressed for time and we are only given five minutes to look around and take pictures before we are ushered away to our next stop. The same thing happened in Kerry and it was just frustrating. I guess that I have a good idea of what to see and do when I visit Ireland again.
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