Glendalough - Irish monastery • Go-to-Ireland.com

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History of Glendalough
- A monastery founded in the 6th century
Visit Glendalough...
- Monuments to discover

Glendalough is a small hamlet housing the ruins of an ancient monastery dating back to the 6th century. Located in the heart of Ireland’s Wicklow Mountains National Park, this is the perfect place for a little outdoor exploration and to discover Ireland’s medieval history.

The area is ideal for a stroll between Upper Lake and Lower Lake, two beautiful lakes that contrast magnificently with the surrounding green plains. The place is strikingly calm, with a history dating back over 1500 years… You’ll come away delighted and refreshed!

The icing on the cake: Glendalough is one of Ireland’s most popular attractions… and has the added advantage of being less than 50 kilometers from Dublin! It’s enough to make you want to take a trip to Ireland’s great outdoors!

History of Glendalough

A monastery founded in the 6th century

Glendalough – © Evgeni Fabisuk

Glendalough Monastery was founded in the 6th century by the priest Saint Kevin, a hermit who decided to settle in County Wicklow to devote himself to the monastic life.

Over the years, many of the priest’s disciples and devotees joined him, and expanded Glendalough by building other places of worship, such as churches, living quarters… and so on. making Glendalough a true ecclesiastical cultural center.

Christian religion, Irish grammar and other forms of knowledge were taught in the village’s rare books.

The hamlet’s activity lasted for many centuries, until 1398, when Glendalough was sadly devastated by the English, leaving behind veritable ruins. Only a few buildings remain standing today.

Visit Glendalough…

Monuments to discover

Glendalough – © rudiernst

Visiting Glendalough is easy and straightforward: it’s open every day of the year, from 8am to 6pm, with the exception of public holidays.

A Visitor Centre is at your disposal, with a comprehensive exhibition on monastic life in Ireland and Europe at the time. At the same time, it introduces you to the history of Glendalough, and the life of the monastery’s founder, the priest St. Kevin.

Of course, a visit to the Visitor Centre is not compulsory, but it can give you a better idea of the village’s historical context…

After a short half-hour presentation, you can then discover Glendalough and its dry-stone ruins, battered by wind, cold and sun. Access to the Glendalough ruins is via a small wooden bridge. You’ll find yourself in front of a small village with several religious buildings and a large cemetery. You can also discover during your visit :

a round tower: 33 meters high and with a circumference of 16 meters, this tower dates back to the 11th century. It has a door 3 metres above ground level. This tower served as a storehouse for rare books and Christian relics of the period.
a cathedral: dating from the 12th century, this cathedral was built in honor of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. It is one of Glendalough’s most imposing monuments. Of course, most of the area is in ruins, but you can still see the cathedral’s foundations, and parts of it still standing…
a cemetery: numerous graves are scattered here and there around Glendalough. Here you’ll find numerous gravestones featuring beautifully carved Celtic crosses.