1113 



WICKLOW. 



WICKLOW. 



111! 



Supar-Loaf, 1651 feet; Douce, 2384 feet; Table Mountain, 2302 feet; 

 hill south-east of Table Mountain, 2495 feet ; LuEmaquilla, the highest 

 mountain in the county, 3039 feet ; Croaahan Moira Mountain, 2175 

 feet, near Lugnaquilla; Keadeen, 2143 feet; and Croghan Kinshela, 

 1399 feet 



The outline of the coast is tolerably even. Just at the mouth of 

 the Darkle, which separates the county of Wicklow from that of 

 Dublin, is a shelving shore, on which, near Bray, are two Martello 

 towers. About a mile south of the Dargle the coast rises into low 

 cliffs, forming the little promontory of Bray Head. Along the 

 remainder of the coast occur low cliffs, headlands, and sand-hills. The 

 whole length of the coast may be estimated at about 36 miles. The 

 only harbours are formed by the mouths of the rivers Dargle, Vartry, 

 and Ovocn, and they are all unimportant. 



The scenery of the county of Wicklow is pre-eminent for picturesque 

 beauty. The Glen of the Dargle, a deep dark cleft or hollow, between 

 two mountains, the sides of which are richly wooded, is a much 

 admired spot, and, owing to its easy distance from Dublin, is much 

 frequented. The Glenisloreane, a feeder of the Dargle, forms a beau- 

 tiful waterfall as it passes through the demesne of Powerscourt. The 

 stream falls over a perpendicular rock at an elevation of 300 feet; it 

 is more striking from its elevation and the rich verdure of the sur- 

 rounding scenery than from the volume of water. The Glen of the 

 Downs, about 4 miles from Bray, is a romantic opening between two 

 mountains, the sides of which are covered with rich hanging woods, 

 interspersed with rugged cliffs. The view up the glen northward is 

 closed by the picturesque form of the Great Sugar-Loaf Mountain, 

 the summit of which commands a noble view in every direction. The 

 Devil's Glen, near Ashford Bridge, is a narrow pass between two 

 mountains rising precipitously on each side of it, and has little more 

 width than suffices for the passage of the river Vartry, which here 

 flow* in an eastward direction. The northern side of the glen is 

 occupied by rich woods, with manes of rocks occasionally breaking 

 through the foliage. The two sides of the glen present iu their 

 geological structure and appearance a marked correspondence. The 

 glen, from its depth and narrowness, is dark and sombre in its cha- 

 racter. At its upper or western extremity is a noble waterfall ; the 

 Vartry throws itself over a ledge of rock 100 feet high in one unbroken 

 sheet into the hollow beneath, and presents, particularly when the 

 stream is swollen by rains, a spectacle of great magnificence. Glen- 

 macannas is a valley amid the mountains, of which Tonelagee is the 

 highest. A curved precipice partly incloses a vast hollow into which 

 the river Avon-More (which waters the valley) falls over the brow of 

 the precipice. Above the waterfall at some distance Tonelagee is 

 broken into many bold granitic precipices. Under one of these 

 precipices, from 400 to 500 feet high, is the small circular lake or tarn 

 Ouler, at an elevation of 1828 or 1830 feet above the level of the sea. 

 The military road made after the insurrection of 1798 runs through 

 this valley. The valley of Glendalough is watered by the Glenealo, 

 which joins the river Glendassan, and falls with it into the Avon- 

 More. The valley extends east and west, and is inclosed on the north 

 and south sides by lofty, barren, and inaccessible mountains, which 

 unite and close the western or upper end of the valley, presenting 

 granitic or mica-date precipices 500 feet high. The river tumbles over 

 the rocks at the west end so as to form a cascade, and then expands 

 into two lakes : the upper lake is about a mile long and nearly a 

 quarter of a mile wide, and about 440 feet above the level of the sea; 

 the lower lake is about 435 feet above the level of the sea, only about 

 i ter of a mile long, and about half that distance wide. Adjacent 

 to this lake, at its lower end, are the ruins of the seven churches of 

 Glendalough and various other antiquities. Qlendassan opens into the 

 valley of Glendalough, or rather the three valleys, Glenmacana-s, 

 Glendassan, and Glendalough, all open near the same point into the 

 wider valley of the Avon-More, which may be regarded, with reference 

 to its direction, as a prolongation of Glenmacanass. Gleudassan is 

 inclosed on both sides by steep and lofty hills ; near its upper end is 

 the lake or tarn Nahanagan, half a mile long, and nearly as wide, 

 about 1380 feet above the level of the sea. Glenmalure is to the 

 south-went of the three glens just noticed. It extends 8 or 10 miles 

 in a south-eastern direction, having the Table Mountain at ita upper 

 or north-west end, and on the west the mountains of Croghan Moira. 

 The mountains rise with considerable steepness 600 or 800 feet above 

 the valley, and more than 2000 feet above the level of the sea. 

 Lugnaquilla rises on the south-west of the valley, but not immediately 

 adjacent to it, 2500 feet above the bottom of the valley at the lead- 

 works, or more than 3000 feet above the level of the sea, having at 

 its top a cromlech called ' Pierce's Table.' Near the upper end of the 

 glen is a waterfall formed by the Avon-Beg (or, as it is called in the 

 upper part of its course, the Ess), which waters the valley. The fall 

 is broken by projecting crags, and loses itself in a succession of rapids 

 in the hollow beneath. Qlenmalure is characterised by the absence 

 of tree*, which imparts to it an air of peculiar sterility and desolation. 

 There are lead-mines in Glenmalure. A bridle road over a gap in 

 Table Mountain leads from Glenmalure to the Glen of Iinalc, a circu- 

 lar valley, surrounded by lofty height?, Lugnaquilla being the highest, 

 and Baltinglats Hill (U'SG feet) the lowest. This valley is about 

 3 miles in diameter, and is a scene of calm and rich beauty, nearly all 

 the surface being made available, the upper parts of the mountains 



for pasturage, the bottom for arable. From a tarn high up the 

 northern side of Lugnaquilla, the Slaney issues and flows through 

 the glen. 



The picturesque beauties of the Vale of Ovoca, or Avoca, have been 

 celebrated in Moore's ' Irish Melodies.' In his song ' The Meeting of 

 the Waters' he has commemorated the junction of the Avon-More 

 and Avon-Beg, which unite to form the Ovoca. In a note to the song, 

 Mr. Moore speaks of the junction of ' the rivers Avon and Avoca.' 

 This however is not correct. The name Avoca, or Ovoca, is uot 

 given except to the united stream ; the constituent waters are both 

 called Avon, one the Avon-More (or Great Avon), and the other the 

 Avon-Beg (or Little Avon). The Avon-Beg is a rapid stream rolling 

 over a rocky bed. The Avon-More haa a gentle current. About 

 3 miles below Newbridge is a secoud ' meeting of the waters,' equal 

 in beauty to that celebrated by Moore. Indeed there has been some, 

 dispute which of the two formed the poet's subject ; and in his pub- 

 lished ' Diary' he owns that he "wrote the song at neither place, 

 though he believes the scene uuder Castle Howard [the upper meeting] 

 suggested it." The lower meeting is constituted by the brawling 

 mountain stream the Daragh, Derry, or Aughrim, and the stiller stream 

 of the Ovoca. 



The central mountain range divides the county into two slopes, the 

 eastern and the western. The first is drained by the Dargle, the 

 Vartrey or Fartrey, the Three Mile Water, the Potter's River, and the 

 Ovoca : the western by the Liffey and the Slauey, with their respective 

 affluents. These two last-mentioned rivers, although draining the 

 western slope, afterwards turn eastward, and passing through openings 

 in the mountain range, fall into the Irish Channel, as well as the 

 rivers which drain the eastern slope. The Dargle rises to the north- 

 west of Douce or Djouce Mountain, and flows first east, then north, 

 then north-east into tha Irish Channel below Bray. In its upper part 

 above the junction of the Glencree, it is called the Glenisloreane. 

 The Vartrey rises on the eastern slope of Douce Mountain, and flows 

 first east, then south, then south-east into the Irish Channel, below 

 tho town of Wicklow. It waters the Devil's Glen. It approaches 

 very near to the sea, about two miles north of its present mouth, but 

 being prevented from flowing into it by the ridge of saud or beach 

 which here lines the shore, expands into a narrow lagoon above two 

 miles long, called ' Broad Lough,' at the southern or lower end of 

 which it flows into the sea. The long tongue of land intercepted 

 between thia lagoon and the sea is called the Murrough, or Murragh, 

 and is partly occupied by the Wicklow racecourse. The Three Mile 

 Water has a course of 6 miles, and Potter's River of 7 miles. The 

 Ovoca is formed by the junction of the Avon-More and the Avon-Beg. 

 The Avon-More rises on the south-east slope of Duff Hill, and passes 

 through Lough Dan ; it receives on the left bank the Aunamoe, which 

 rises in Croghan Pond, a little lake 1770 feet above the level of the 

 sea, passing through Lough Tay, an oval lake, the longer diameter of 

 which is above half a mile, elevated 807 feet above the level of the 

 sea, and surrounded by steep, abrupt, and wooded heights. Lough 

 Dan, through which the Avon-More flows, is nearly two miles long from 

 north-west to south-east, and about three furlongs across at the broad- 

 est part ; it is about 680 feet above the level of the sea. From the 

 junction of the Avon-More and the Avon-Beg, the river now called 

 Ovoca flows nine miles into the sea below Arklow, receiving on its 

 right bank the Aughrim, which passes through a pretty glen of tho 

 same name, into which the Gold-Mine River and the Ow both fall. 

 The Ow rises on the eastern slope of Lugnaquilla. The Liffey rises in 

 a bog near Croghan Pond, and runs first west-north-west, then south- 

 west (partly within and partly upon the border of tho county), to the 

 place where it quits the county altogether to enter that of Dublin, to 

 which it chiefly belongs. It receives the King's River, between Bles- 

 sington and Ballymore Eustace. The Slaney rises on the northern 

 slope of Lugnaquilla, and flows in a winding channel westward to a 

 little below the junction of the Carrigower : it then turns south, and 

 flows by Baltinglass into the county of Carlow, to which county, and 

 to tho county of Wexford, the lower part of its course belong*. It 

 receives on the left bank, above the bend, the Little Slaney, from the 

 western slope of Lugnaquilla, and the Carrigower from the north-west 

 slope of Slieve Gadoe, on the right bank. Tha .Derry River has its 

 source, and a considerable part of its course, within or upon the 

 boundary of this county. It joins the Slaney soon after quitting this 

 county, near Clouegall on the border of the counties of Wexford and 

 Carlow. 



Most of the lakes have been noticed in connection either with tho 

 scenery or the rivers. Upper Lough Bray and Lower Lough Bray 

 are mountain lakes in which two feeders of the Glencree have their 

 respective sources; the first is 1453 feet above the level of the sea, 

 and haa an area of more than 28 acres ; tho second is 1225 feet above 

 the level of the pea, and has an area of nearly 65 acres. 



The chief roads of Wicklow county are, the Dublin and Wexford 

 mail-road, which enters the county at Bray, and runs southward by 

 Delgany, Newtown-Mount-Kenuedy, Ashford Bridge, Rathdrum, and 

 Arklow into the county of Wexford ; a branch road from this iu the 

 nighbourhood of Ashford Bridge to Wicklow ; a road from Wicklow 

 to Arklow ; a road branching off at Rathdrum, by Talbotstown to 

 Carlow ; a road from Dublin to Carlow on the western side, by 

 Blessington, Hollywood, Stratford-on-Slauey, nnd Biltinglass; a road 



