County Wicklow and Glendalough Monastic Settlement

November 23, 2011 by Heather Lucier Stanley 1 Comment

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Our tour had some flexibility. Our guide, Robbie, knew that the weather would be pleasant in the morning, and decided to switch around the schedule to see County Wicklow in the morning and head back to Dublin in the afternoon, when it was supposed to rain. This flip-flop in the schedule worked out well.

County Wicklow is gorgeous. We saw rolling hills, peat bogs, lakes and mountains. We also visited the Glendalough Monastic Settlement.

What struck me that first day is the beauty of the uninhabited land outside of Dublin. The reason the land is uninhabited is that it is mostly peat bogs and commercial developers cannot build on peat.

That first day we heard stories of the ignorant tourist going off on his own, walking on the peat, and needing to be hoisted out as he sank into the earth. Inevitably, the tourist would lose a shoe and get mad. Well, don’t do stupid things and you won’t lose a shoe, I thought. This was after being warned not to walk on the peat.

I enjoyed seeing the purple Heather growing on the mountain side and in the peat bogs. I also loved the Glendalough Monastic Settlement in County Wicklow.

I did not know how old certain ruins were in Ireland until we visited the country. I was awe struck by these ruins that dated back to the 6th century. I feel that these ruins are older than anything I have previously seen in Europe so far. Alan really enjoyed the ruins as well. Who knew that we would both enjoy seeing ruins? Thank goodness because we would see a lot of ruins on this trip. Ireland is filled with ruins and our trip to the Glendalough Monastic Settlement was only the beginning of a fantastic week filled with history.

Seeing the Glendalough Monastic Settlement in County Wicklow has renewed my interest in the book How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill.

heather and alan

About Heather Lucier Stanley

Heather Lucier Stanley grew up in Central Massachusetts and lived in New England until she started studying at the University of Michigan where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing and Literature. In her early 20s, she moved to San Antonio, Texas and started studying business and accounting. In her late 20s, she became a Certified Public Accountant. She has held many varied and interesting business and volunteer positions: public accountant, internal auditor, systems implementer, project manager, business analyst, tax preparer and Austin Skiers board member. While traveling 35% for a position she held, she earned her Master of Information Systems (MIS) at the University of Phoenix. She is enthusiastic about learning and trying new things. A few of her passions are personal development, fitness, snow skiing, and travel. She is outgoing and real. She feels that success is easy to attain if the individual defines what success means to her and then has a plan to achieve her individual success. No two definitions of success are the same because each of us is unique and has something original to share with the world.
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  1. Exploring Ireland: How To See A Lot and Have a Blast | Heather Lucier Stanley - December 10, 2011

    [...] County Wicklow and Glendalough Monastic Settlement 03. Dublin and Fallon & [...]