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appears to have been a place of religious retreat prior to
the introduction of Christianity; and from its early im-
portance and secluded situation, it has long been re-
garded with feelings of veneration, as one of the most
celebrated seats of ancient ecclesiastical institutions.
The first Christian church established here was founded
by St. Kevin, who was born of a noble family about the
year 498, but choosing a monastic life retired to these
solitudes, and founded an abbey in the lower part of
the vale. So great was the reputation of St. Kevin, that
St. Mochnorog, a Briton, also fixed his residence here;
and a school was soon established, which concentrated
a great portion of the learning of the times and produced
some of the most eminent men of that period. A city
soon arose around this monastery, which became the
seat of a diocese, including the present see of.Dublin,
and of which St. Kevin, who also held the abbacy of
Glendalough, was the first bishop. Having presided
over the see till 612 he resigned the care of the bishop
rick, - attending solely to the duties of the abbacy, and
died on the 3rd of June, 618, in the 120th year of his age.
The see of Glendalough, after the resignation of St.
Kevin, continued under a regular succession of bishops
to flourish for 600 years, when, on the death of William
Piro, in 1214, it was united to the see of Dublin, at the
suggestion of Cardinal Paparo, who had delivered one of
the palls to the metropolitan bishop, and this union was
confirmed by Pope Honorius in 1216. The sept of the
O’Tooles, however, could never be induced to acknow-
ledge the authority of the English Archbishops of Dublin,
but was still governed by Irish bishops of Glendalough
for many years, till 1497, when Friar Dennis White, the
last bishop, formally surrendered possession of the see
of Glendalough, and the authority of the Archbishops
of Dublin was fully acknowledged. It appears from the
records of the see, that Glendalough, which was the
depository of the wealth of the neighbouring septs, was
frequently plundered by the Danes, and also by the Eng-
lish, after whose invasion the city was never able to pre-
serve the importance it had previously maintained. In
1309, Piers Gavestone defeated the sept of the O’Byrnes
at this place, and having rebuilt the castle of Kevin and
opened the pass between it and Glendalough, presented
an offering at the shrine of St. Kevin. In 1398, the
English forces burnt the city, which never afterwards
recovered its prosperity. In 1580, one of the Fitzgeralds,
uniting with Lord Baltinglass and a chieftain of the
O’Byrnes, occupied this valley in open hostility to the
government, and the Lord-Deputy Grey, who had just
arrived from England and was totally unacquainted with
the country, gave orders for their immediate dislodge
ment. The officers, who had assembled to congratulate
him on his arrival, accordingly led their troops to the
valley; but as they began to explore its recesses, per-
plexed with bogs and overhung by rocks, a volley was
poured in among them from an unseen enemy, and re-
peated with dreadful execution. Audley, Moore, Crosby,
and Sir Peter Carew, all distinguished officers, fell in
this rash adventure; and Lord Grey, who had awaited
the result on an eminence in the vicinity, returned with
the remainder of his troops to Dublin. On the suppres-
sion of the disturbances of 1798, Dwyer and his followers
took refuge among the fastnesses of Glendalough, and
remained in perfect security in the mountains till they
procured an amnesty from the government.
660
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The ancient city is now only a heap of scattered
ruins, imparting a venerable and solitary grandeur to
that part of the valley in which they are situated. The
vale is about two miles in length, and about three-
quarters of a mile in breadth, enclosed on the north by
the mountains of Brockagh and Comaderry, and on the
south by those of Derrybawn and Lugduff; it is entirely
inaccessible from the west, but opens towards the east,
where its waters are discharged by a powerful stream
into the river Avonmore. About halfway up the valley,
and at the farthest extremity to which cultivation has been
extended, are the principal remains of the city, occupying
a gentle eminence projecting from the base of the moun-
tain of Comaderry, beyond which the two lakes, oversha-
dowed by the vast precipices of the mountains of Derry-
bawn and Lugduff, present a scene of sombre magnificence,
rendered still more impressive by the opposite heights of
Comaderry, whose summit is 1567 feet above their sur-
face. In the mountain of Derrybawn, which is com-
posed of mica slate, is a break in the strata, where one
part has sunk many feet below the other, and which is
called the “Giants’ Cut; “and a little farther between it
and Lugduff the Glaneola brook, falling into the upper
lake over some richly wooded rocks, forms several
picturesque cascades. On the same side of the glen,
under the gloomy brow of Lugduff, and in a precipice
rising perpendicularly to the height of 30 feet from the
surface of the lake, is the remarkable excavation called
St. Kevin’s bed, said to have been the retreat of that
saint; it is large enough only for one person in a recum-
bent position, and is surrounded by a zone of rocky
mountains encircling the lake, of which the waters,
though perfectly limpid, have an appearance of sombre
darkness. In storms the lake is violently agitated and
sometimes overflows the meadows which separate it from
the lower lake; and in calm weather an echo of sur-
prising distinctness is formed between the rocks near
the Giants’ Cut and the opposite side of the valley.
Amidst these scenes, to which the genius of Moore has
given a high degree of celebrity, are to be found nume-
rous vestiges of antiquity, and many objects which, are
intimately associated with the most pleasing and in-
teresting periods of Irish history. These venerable
remains form a group of diversified appearance, and
above them rises in isolated grandeur one of those
ancient round towers, the origin of which has so much
excited the researches of the antiquary. The approach
to these interesting relics is across the mountain torrent
of Glendhasane, which descends from the back of
Comaderry, on the near side of which are the traces of
a paved road, leading out by Wicklow Gap, in the direc-
tion of Hollywood, and called St. Kevin’s Road; also
of a small paved area, said to have been the market-
place of the ancient city. On the other side of the road
is a gateway, the arches of which are still entire. The
most conspicuous of these ruins is the ancient cathedral,
of which the nave and choir were connected by a circular
arch, which has fallen down; three narrow windows
in the south wall of the nave, and the east window of
the chancel, enriched with mouldings and allegorical
sculpture on the inside, are still remaining; as is also
the western doorway, which is formed of blocks of granite.
Nearly adjacent are vestiges of a small building, probably
the sacristy, around which are numerous crosses, mostly
mutilated; one is formed of a single block of granite,