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Passing the Sugarloaf mountain and travelling
further into the heart of Wicklow, you come across the open
bog wilderness of the Sally Gap, a landscape more in tune
with the west of Ireland for its emptyness and ruggedness.
Yet only a few miles away, is Glendalough, hidden in the Wicklow
mountains. The name derived from the Irish "Gleann Dá
Locha" meaning "valley of the two lakes", this
is a place of immence beauty, with its lakes bordered by steep
wooded valleys.
In the past Glendalough was a place of great
religious signifance, its monastic settlements were founded
in the sixth century by St Kevin. The buildings which survive
today, stone churches and decorated stone crosses, date from
the 8th and 12th centuries. Glendalough is however best known
for its 34m high round tower, one of the best examples of
Irish round towers still in existance today.
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