The Wicklow Mountains; An Overview

View over the Miners Village and Glendalough

Camping

People often ask about camping. At the time of writing, camping in the Wicklow Mountains does not require a permit. Camping is not permitted in the Glendalough Valley and you must walk for three hours beyond the valley in order to camp, this is strictly enforced. Campfires are also currently not permitted in the Wicklow Mountains National Park. Always use the principals of 'Leave No Trace'.

Wicklow Legends, The people of the hills

 Wicklow has historical characters that come in many forms; saints, scholars, rebels, warriors, lost tribes... The following two have one main commonality, the pastime of climbing hills and mountains.

A journey I travelled many times during my childhood was over the Wicklow mountains via Roundwood and the Sally Gap, (as it was the only route west from our house before Irelands road infrastructure was massively upgraded). There is now a modest car park along this stretch of road called after a man named J.B. Malone. Born to Irish parents in Leeds, he began hiking in Ireland at 18 when he climbed Mountpelier hill to visit the ruins of the Hellfire Club. He went on to walk the length and breadth of the Wicklow Mountains and popularised hillwalking with his show ‘By Meadow and Mountain’ first broadcast by RTÉ and presented by John James Bernard Malone in 1962, see an episode below:

https://www.rte.ie/archives/2017/0816/897847-the-vale-of-avoca/ From 1938 -1975,

J.B. Malone wrote almost 1,000 articles on rambling, walking, cycling or driving to and in the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains inspiring others to take up the pursuit. Whilst working for the National Sports Council he realised his ambition of forming the Wicklow Way, he first proposed a waymarked route through the Wicklow Mountains in 1966. The Wicklow Way was the first waymarked way to be opened in the Republic of Ireland.

Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed was a mountaineer, born in 1860 in Dublin and grew up in Killincarrig, Co. Wicklow. Abandoning the conventions of the time “Lizzie”, as she was known to her friends, left her humble town to move to Switzerland. From here she racked up an amazing catalogue of mountaineering achievements. Finding herself in Chamonix, she climbed two thirds of the way to the top of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps in quote
"high-heeled buttoned boots and shady hats". The following summer she summited, twice!

She went on to summit numerous Swiss peaks later setting her sights on Norway where she put up over 100 ascents, one in every five of these had never been climbed before.

Elizabeth would bring a cumbersome camera on most of her climbs, capturing mountain landscapes up close, making her one of the first female filmmakers and the first mountain film maker ever.

She helped to set up and became the first president of the Ladies Alpine Club in 1907 encouraging women to partake in alpine activities, closing the gender gap and continuing to defy conventions throughout her life. Although she was not the only female alpine pioneer at the time, Lucy Walker (the second president of the female Alpine Club), Fanny Bullock Workman (a high altitude climber), Marie Paradis (first woman to summit Mont Blanc in 1808) to name but a few, Elizabeth was accomplished with an impressive collection of literary work. No doubt her spirit of adventure inspired a generation in what was a male weighted sport and will continue to inspire irregardless of gender or ability. For more on Lizzie follow this link..

“There is no question of beating any one else, as in a race or a game, or of killing an animal or a bird as in hunting or shooting. A mountaineer sets his skill and his strength against the difficulty of getting to the top of a steep peak. Either he conquers the mountain, or it conquers him”

-True Tales of Mountain Adventures By Aubrey Le Blond (Printed 1903)