Glendalough is in the Wicklow mountains, a short drive from the city of Dublin. Its name comes from the Irish - Gleann dá locha which tranlated means the ‘Glen of the two lakes’. And yes there are two lakes, known as the upper and lower lakes. The scenery is beautiful, but Glendalough is known because it is the site of an ancient monastic community, with its distinctive round tower.
Glendalough wasn't chosen for its beauty, but rather its remoteness meaning solitude and a lack of comforts. The monks came here to commit to an ascetic life of prayer, firstly Saint Kevin and a few monks who followed him built temporary dwellings. Given the martyrdom of many of the saints much earlier, such as in the Roman empire, the Irish had a problem, as there was not this sort of persecution. So in their creativeness they came up with the concept of green martyrdom, were you didn't die but gave up life in a different sense. Saint Kevin was probably not the most successful green martyr or hermit, as a monastic community developed around him.
The earliest part of the monastic community is at the upper lake, but as the community grew, a new community was built at the lower lake, which was built with greater permenance in mind than the original huts that the first monks lived in. The monastic village is quite a site with the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Paul with its ruined romanseque arches and the distinctive round tower. Ruins also remain of a guest house, as Glendalough became an important pilgrammage site, and several churches but the most intact church can only be viewed from the exterior for safety reasons, the numbers of churches reveal the communities commitment to prayer and the number of visiting pilgrams, as well as many patrons of the community to give money. The round tower is still complete, but its purpose has been debated between a watchtower, a place of safety to escape trouble below, to store items of value or to be used as a 'bell tower'. To divide such uses as separate is difficult, but it seems to have been a common feature of many monastic communities, with trouble being taken to construct in the circular shape. There is also St Kevins Cross, which is a celtic cross, with the distinctive circle added, in this case a circle and not a ring. It should be noted that in the monastic village grounds is now a graveyard. At the upper lake are the remains of another church, Reefert church which is the oldest church of the site, were Saint Kevin was buried. There are also several stone circles, which have been suggested as being aids to prayer for the monks.
In terms of practicalities, this is a short drive by car from Dublin. There are also several options with bus tours and so on to reach Glendalough. There are two car parks one at the upper lake and one close to the monastic village site, which also has an information centre, were leftlets, maps and so on can be acquired. Its quite feasible to walk between the two lakes, though the path is quite stony, so sandals and high heels are not probably the best option here. There are also miles of walks into the hills above which are clearly marked, if you are feeling energetic. At the upper lake carpark there is a small kiosk selling a small menu of fast food, and snacks and drinks, but there are quite a few pubs and resturants around the village.
I love coming here, as an insight into the history of Ireland and the scenery is simply stunning with mountains, lakes and river as a backdrop, but also for the atmosphere. There is a spiritual dimension to the place - you can almost hear the prayers of the monastic community that were here still reverberating hundreds of years later. This is a great trip out of Dublin to see some of the countryside, and I would recommend it highly.