The bus then took us to the Woodenbridge Inn in
the town of Arklow for a three course lunch. We could
see Great Sugar Loaf Mountain in the distance as we
rode. We left Arklow about 3:30 and drove to Glendalough,
passing through through the small village of Rathdrum.
We arrived about 4:15.
Lunch at the Woodenbridge Inn |
Great Sugar Loaf Mountain |
Village of Rathdrum |
Our first view of Glendalough |
Glendalough (Valley of Two Lakes) is a glacial
valley in County Wicklow renowned for its medieval
monastic settlement. The settlement was founded in the 6th century by St
Kevin, a hermit priest. Much of itt was destroyed by
English troops in 1398. It was finally abandoned during
the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, but pilgrims
continued to come to the site. In its heyday the monastery included
workshops, areas for manuscript production, guest
houses, an infirmary, farm buildings and dwellings for
both the monks and a large lay population. The surviving
buildings date from between the 10th and 12th centuries.
A lot of restoration work was done in the 1870s.
Model of Monastery
grounds |
Gateway to Monastery grounds |
After examining a scale model and watching a short movie
about the monastery's history, we entered the ruins
through the Gateway. Though it now looks like a double
archway, the two stone arches were originally the
opposite sides of an enclosed two-story structure with a
timber roof. (See left photo of model.)
A few of the many tombstones |
Much of the grounds was occupied by
interesting old tombstones, but our guide pointed out
that these were not from the original abbey; they were
added after the monastery was abandoned, apparently
because people wanted to be buried in what was
considered especially holy ground. Some
of the stones were from as late as the 20th century.
The most prominent landmark on the grounds is the
round tower. This was a common feature of ancient Irish
monasteries, but few survive. The tower at Glendalough is nearly 100
feet tall. The entrance is about ten feet up so a ladder
was needed to reach it. There originally were six timber
floors inside, connected by ladders. The function of the round
towers is a matter of speculation. They may have served
multiple purposes: as landmarks for approaching
visitors, as bell towers, as store-houses, and/or as
places of refuge in times of attack.
The tower behind ruins of a church |
The tower amongst the tombstones |
Visitors around the tower |
The largest
remaining ruin on the grounds is the Cathedral (about
1200), but only the shell of the nave is left. There are
ruins of several other small churches as well,
consisting mostly of a few crumbling walls.
Ruins of the cathedral |
Interior of the cathedral |
Ruins of another church |
The most
interesting and best preserved (or restored) of the old
churches is St.
Kevin's Church, situated down a hill from the tower and
the main ruins. It has a very unusual stone roof. Such
roofs have no underlying supports, other than the
semi-circular vaulted ceiling below; they rely for
support on the careful overlapping of the stones.
St. Kevin's Church from above |
St. Kevin's seen close up |
Interior showing vaulted ceiling |
Looking back from the
bridge |
Following the creek |
We didn't leave the ruins
through the Gateway, but instead walked
over a small wooden bridge and followed
the creek back to the Visitors' Center.
Our bus left at 5:40, taking a faster
route back to Dublin.
We got to the ship at 6:50. We'd
had a large meal for lunch at 2:30 so, after a short
stop at our room, we went out on the Lido deck for a
(relatively) light snack. The temperature was in the mid-50s
and this was about the first time it was warm enough to
sit out there. We were back in our cabin when the ship
sailed at 8:30.
