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GLENCREE |
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Lying about six miles west of Enniskerry, the tiny village of
GLENCREE , with its eponymous valley stretching away southeast to the
Wicklow Way, is a quiet place with wonderful views of the Sugarloaf
mountains. The only reason you're likely to be here is to stay at the An
Óige youth hostel in Glencree, Stone House (book through the Dublin
office tel 01/830 4555); a cosy stone house dating from the construction
of the military road in 1798. Note that only basic provisions are
available in the village and there is no pub. As an alternative, Lackan
House An Óige hostel (tel 01/286 4036; book through Dublin office tel
01/830 4555), halfway up the valley at Knockree , three miles west of
Enniskerry, is less inviting, but in a much better position for joining
the Wicklow Way , which passes through its grounds. Glencree was once
famous for its oak woods , but the small one behind the hostel was
actually planted in 1988, in sad commemoration of the fact that
broadleaved woodlands now cover barely one percent of the country.
Further down the valley a dense conifer plantation has been designated a
place for walks, with the misleading name of Old Boley Wood.
Above Glencree the military road ascends through dark, sinister terrain
towards one of the two main mountain passes, the Sally Gap . Close to
the source of the Liffey, the area has been heavily invaded by Dubliners
seeking peat - a further depredation inflicted upon the landscape. The
most spectacular route from here is to continue south along the military
road down to Laragh and Glendalough, which runs over rough country until
it joins the Glenmacnass River - at this point there's the extraordinary,
extended Glenmacnass waterfall. The R759 heading southeast of here takes
you past Lough Tay as it winds its way down to Sraghmore, a couple of
miles north of Roundwood.
Dramatic, inaccessible Lough Tay - whose scree sides plunge straight
into the water - is owned by Garech a'Brún, a member of the Guinness
family who is also the man behind Claddagh Records in Dublin. Access to
Lough Dan , south of here, with its gentler woodlands, is also barred
and visitors are made to feel unwelcome by numerous signs warning
against trespassing on private land.
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