ByRoute 2.1 Co. Wicklow & Co. Wexford
These pages describe ByRoute 2 between Kilternan or Kilcullen on the southern outskirts of DUBLIN and Mullinavat (Co. Kilkenny).
Enniskerry (Co. Wicklow / North)
Enniskerry (Áth na Scairbhe) (pop. 3000) (Dublin Bus 44, 180), is nowadays the focal point of an upmarket commuter district, but has carefully retained its picturesque English village look.
A forest was felled in the early C19th to make way for a cluster of vaguely Tudoresque buildings, designed to house the (mostly Welsh) workers on the Powerscourt Estate.
The Wingfield memorial clock tower in the centre of the village was erected in 1843. (Photo by Thpohl).
The Schoolhouse (1818) and the former RIC barracks, now Enniskerry Garda Station (1840), are quaint, not to mention the Old Forge with the horseshoe doorway.
St. Mary’s church (RC), designed by Patrick Byrne c.1845 and completed in 1859, was one of the first of its kind in Ireland.
St. Patrick’s church (CoI) with its unusual copper spire was consecrated in 1863 to replace an earlier edifice within the Powerscourt demesne, and totally restored in 1996.
Enniskerry has a couple of good pubs and eateries. The prominent Powerscourt Arms Hotel, a lovely building, believed to date from 1715 but largely remodelled in 1835, is popular as a local music / dance venue. Ferndale B&B is highly recommended. Knockree Youth Hostel is top of the range. The Summerhill House Hotel has a great reputation for wedding receptions, but otherwise receives decidedly mixed reviews.
The Glencree, Glencullen, Cookstown and Dargle River Valleys and the Dargle Glen are beautiful, with spectacular mountain scenery as a backdrop to pleasant leafy lanes, grassy meadows, bogland, hedgerows, stone walls, woods, copses and streams. The area is dotted with (very expensive) residences; some of the older houses have historical associations, while a few of the newer constructions are of architectural interest.
Powerscourt
Powerscourt Estate derives its name from a C12th Norman castle built by the le Poer (Power) family, later held variously by the O’Tooles and the FitzGeralds. For 350 years it belonged to the Wingfield family, holders of the title Viscount Powerscourt, and was bought by the Slazenger family in 1961.
Powerscourt House, a magnificent Palladian mansion, designed by Richard Cassels in 1731 and destroyed by fire in 1974, has since been restored as a tourist attraction with upmarket shops and eateries.
Powerscourt gardens, designed by Daniel Robertson, extend down the slope from the mansion; mainly Italianate in style, with terraces, statuary, lawns, exotic plants, tessellated pavements, follies, a beautiful ornamental lake with a triton fountain and fine wrought iron work. Various viewpoints provide magnificent prospects of the surrounding hills, dominated by the Great Sugarloaf. I particularly like the walled garden, the pepperpot tower, the Japanese gardens and the pet cemetery. There are also woods and plantations of mature trees, masses of rhododendrons and other flowering shrubs.
Parts of the Powerscourt estate are despoiled by two golf courses. In addition, there is now an ugly 5-Star Ritz Carlton Hotel, with a supposedly world class restaurant run by foulmouthed celebrity British TV chef Gordon Ramsay. Both the accommodation and the food have received mixed reviews, while our own acquaintances who have been there were angered by the poor standards and value for money on offer.
Powerscourt Waterfall, accessible by a separate entrance, claims to be the highest waterfall in the British Isles at 121m/400ft. It is particularly impressive after a rainy spell, and a lovely spot for a picnic, despite the outrageous entrance fee.
The 7th Viscount Powerscourt established a deer park here and in 1858 successfully introduced Japanese Sika deer to Ireland. Nearby, the small Powerscourt Deerpark Cave is of great interest to geologists.
The Golden Gate is a particularly impressive old entrance to the Powercourt Estate, now rarely used.
The Powerscourt Estate was used for location filming in Laurence Olivier’s Henry V (1944), Stanley Baker’s Where’s Jack? (1969), Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon (1975), John Boorman’s Excalibur (1981) and Kevin Reynold’s The Count of Monte Cristo (2002).
Tinnahinch Bridge over the River Dargle is a well-known beauty spot near the Golden Gate.
Tinnahinch House, originally an inn built by Lord Powerscourt, was presented to Henry Grattan by a grateful Irish Parliament in 1782. The politician had a great love for trees. A visitor to Tinnehinch once remarked that a big beech was dangerously near to the house. ‘Yes’ said Grattan, ‘I have often thought that I must have the house moved’. This property is strictly private.
Charleville House, an imposing Palladian style mansion built in 1797 to a design by Whitmore Davis, with a façade inspired by that of Lucan House in Co. Dublin, is privately owned but can be viewed by appointment.
Ballyorney House & Gardens, also open only by appointment, feature lovely lawns and shrubs in a naturalistic woodland setting.
Knockmore Gardens, attached to a small Palladian house looking out to Dublin Bay, feature steep stone terraces, a Victorian dogs’ cemetery, a sundial, a geometric kitchen garden, a small canal, old roses and herbaceous borders, leading to the pools of a Robinsonian wild garden. Beyond are woodland walks overlooking the Dargle Glen. Hundred year old trees give the three acre garden a romantic setting. The story of the garden and its creators is charmingly told in Rubel Ross’s prize winning book, A Year in an Irish Garden, illustrated by Jeremy Williams. Access is confined to small groups, and by appointment only.
Knocksink Wood is a beautiful 70-hectare Nature Reserve featuring deciduous and mixed woodland, grasslands, scrub, woodland pools and petrifying springs. An unusual geochemistry allows for a great diversity of insect and other invertebrate life, and several species new to Ireland have been spotted.
Cloon / Curtlestown Wood, a recently harveted Coillte forestry plantation, provides access to a lovely Oak Glen, an initiative to recreate at least part of the once vast Royal Oak Forest of Glencree. Here the Wicklow Way links Prince William’s Seat (455m) and the Raven Rock. The remains of small farms, characterised by broken stone walls, are common in this area.
On the other side of the valley, Djouce Wood and the adjacent ever-shrinking Crone Wood are particularly scenic, taking in about 10 km of forest and hillside walks on the slopes of Djouce Mountain (725m), with fantastic views of the surrounding countryside, including Powerscourt Waterfall (best seen from Ride Rock), and access to Tonduff and Maulin mountains and the Raven’s Glen. This area became a hideout for bands of insurgents following the 1798 Rebellion. Formerly part of the Powerscourt Estate, the wood was laid out with drives on the orders of Sir Richard Wingfield between 1830 and 1840. Giant oak trees, some ancient, are scattered amongst the evergreen Sitka spruce, Douglas fir, Corsican and lodgepole pine trees and broadleaves such as oak, beech and Spanish chestnut, surrounded by furze, heather, woodrush, wood sorrel, bilberry, sage and bracken.
On both sides of the valley, the mammals found range from Ireland’s smallest, the pygmy shrew, to rabbits, red squirrels and foxes, to hybrid red / Sika deer, and birds sighted vary from goldcrest to peregrine falcons and hen harriers.
Killmallin Lodge was the home of the poet / lyricist Joseph Campbell / McCahill, aka Seosamh Mac Cathmhaoil, from 1915-21. An IRA activist, he also lived locally upon his return from voluntary exile in the USA from 1939 until is death in 1944. Coolakay Agricultural Museum, attached to Coolakay House B&B, has a fascinating collection of old farming instruments and rural heritage paraphernalia.
Enniskerry Village is not far from Glencree on ByRoute© 3, and also, via the R117 (known locally as “The 20 Bends”), within easy reach of the main N11, passing close to Bray and Delgany on ByRoute 1.
The Rocky Valley, long reputed to be an IRA training area, is an atmospheric gorge presenting a steep slope for those who like a challenge on the way to the top of the Big Sugarloaf.
The Rocky Valley’s lower (eastern) end is at Kilmacanogue, a hideous layby on the N11.
The Big Sugarloaf, popular with weekend hillwalkers, dominates the landscape of Northeastern Co. Wicklow. On clear days, the summit commands views of Snowdonia in Wales.
Calary, Carrigower & Glendarragh (Co. Wicklow / Northeast)
Calary Bog is a good introduction to Irish blanket bogs, and provides easy access to the Big Sugarloaf.
Calary Church of Ireland (1834) hosts an annual festival of classical music, and occasional concerts throughout the year. It can seat just over 100 people, and has excellent acoustics.
The parish once had as its curate the Anglo-Irish evangelist John Nelson Darby (1800-1882), who went on to become one of the principal founders of the Plymouth Brethren. He is considered the father of Dispensationalism, at the forefront of Christian Zionism, and the “rapture” theory wherein Christ will snatch away his true believers from this world without warning. These notions are unfortunately still held by some mad American fundamentalists, and even used to justify certain “neocon” policies in the Middle East.
Carriggower Bog, on the south side of the Big Sugarloaf, is a notable site for wintering Snipe.
Glendarragh is the pretty valley location of Glendarragh Studios, purpose built to provide work space for resident and visiting professional artists in various media, and Glendarragh Pottery.
Calary, Carrigower and Glendarragh are on the R755 to Roundwood on ByRoute 3, and within easy reach of Delgany on ByRoute 1.
