Introduction
County Wicklow, just south of Dublin, earned the nickname “the Garden of Ireland” for its designed estate landscapes, and holds Glendalough's early Christian monastic ruins, Powerscourt's waterfall and gardens, and the southern end of the Wicklow Way, Ireland's first waymarked long-distance walking trail.
Overview
Wicklow's landscape is genuinely varied within a small area — glacial valleys, granite mountains and designed 18th-century estate gardens, all within an hour of Dublin. Glendalough, a 6th-century monastic settlement founded by St Kevin in a valley carved by two lakes, rewards a slower visit than most day-trippers give it. Powerscourt, further north, pairs a formal Palladian-style garden with Ireland's highest waterfall on the wider estate grounds. Wicklow's landscaped country estates are exactly what earned the county its “Garden of Ireland” nickname, and the Wicklow Way, running the length of the county's mountains, remains the template every other Irish long-distance trail followed.
Discover Wicklow
Glendalough — literally “the valley of the two lakes” — began as the retreat of St Kevin, a 6th-century hermit who reportedly sought out the valley's isolation specifically to escape company, before a monastic community gradually grew around his presence and developed into one of early medieval Ireland's most significant centres of learning. The Round Tower, over 30 metres tall and among the best-preserved examples in Ireland, served a dual purpose typical of these structures — a bell tower calling monks to prayer, and a place of refuge and valuables storage during raids, with its entrance set several metres above ground level, reached only by a removable ladder. The valley's two lakes, Upper and Lower Lough, were carved by glacial action long before the monastery's founding, and the surrounding oak woodland and mountain trails now draw as many hikers as visitors focused purely on the monastic ruins.
Ways to Experience This Destination
Glendalough's early Christian monastic settlement, Round Tower, and the glacial valley of the two lakes.
Powerscourt's formal Italianate gardens and Ireland's highest waterfall, plus the wider tradition of designed estate landscapes that earned Wicklow its “Garden of Ireland” name.
Ireland's first waymarked long-distance trail, running through granite mountain terrain within easy day-trip reach of Dublin.
Frequently asked questions
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