Глендалох: Долина, Монастырь и История Ирландии

Glacial valley and monastic settlement in County Wicklow, Ireland

Glendalough (,/ɡ//l//ɛ//n//d//ə/'/l//ɒ//x/; ) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. From 1825 to 1957, the head of the Glendalough Valley was the site of a galena lead mine. Glendalough is also a recreational area for picnics, for walking along networks of maintained trails of varying difficulty, and also for rock climbing.

Kevin, a descendant of one of the ruling families in Leinster, studied as a boy under the care of three holy men: Eoghan, Lochan and Eanna. During this time, he went to Glendalough. He was to return later, with a small group of monks to found a monastery where the 'two rivers form a confluence'. Kevin's writings discuss his fighting "knights" at Glendalough; scholars today believe this refers to his process of self examination and his personal temptations. His fame as a holy man spread and he attracted numerous followers. He died in about 618, traditionally on 3 June. For the next six centuries, Glendalough flourished and the Irish Annals contain references to the deaths of abbots and raids on the settlement. Circa 1042, oak timber from Glendalough was used to build the second longest Viking longship recorded (circa 30 m). A modern replica of that ship was built in 2004 and is currently located in Roskilde, Denmark. At the Synod of Rath Breasail in 1111, Glendalough was designated as one of the two dioceses of North Leinster. The Book of Glendalough was written there about 1131. St. Laurence O'Toole, born in 1128, became Abbot of Glendalough and was well known for his sanctity and hospitality. Even after his appointment as Archbishop of Dublin in 1162, he returned occasionally to Glendalough, to the solitude of St. Kevin's Bed. He died in Eu, in Normandy in 1180. by Abraham Ortelius as "Glandalag". Descriptions of Glendalough from the 18th and 19th centuries include references to occasions of "riotous assembly" on the feast of St. Kevin on 3 June.

The Gateway to the monastic city of Glendalough is one of the most important monuments, now totally unique in Ireland. It was originally two storeyed with two fine, granite arches. The antae or projecting walls at each end suggest that it had a timber roof. Inside the gateway, in the west wall, is a cross inscribed stone. This denoted sanctuary, the boundary of the area of refuge. The paving of the causeway in the monastic city is still preserved in part but very little remains of the enclosure wall. is the largest and most imposing of the buildings at Glendalough, the cathedral had several phases of construction, the earliest, consisting of the present nave with its antae. The large mica schist stones which can be seen up to the height of the square headed west doorway were re used from an earlier smaller church. The chancel and sacristy date from the late 12th and early 13th centuries. The chancel arch and east window were finely decorated, though many of the stones are now missing. The north doorway to the nave also dates from this period. Under the southern window of the chancel, there is an ambry or wall cupboard and a piscina, a basin used for washing the sacred vessels. A few metres south of the cathedral an early cross of local granite, with an unpierced ring, is commonly known as St. Kevin's Cross. In August 2023, The Deer Stone was vandalised, causing permanent damage.

Situated in a grove of trees, this nave and chancel church dates from around 1100. Most of the surrounding walls are modern. The name derives from Righ Fearta, the burial place of the kings. The church, built in a simple style, has a granite doorway with sloping jambs and flat lintel and a granite chancel arch. The projecting corbels at each gable carried verge timbers for the roof. East of the church there are two crosses of note, one with an elaborate interlace pattern. On the other side of the Poulanass River, close to Reefert are the remains of another small church. In 1859 the Glendasan and Glendalough mines were connected with each other by a series of tunnels called adits, which are now mostly flooded, through the Camaderry mountain. These tunnels helped drain the mineral vein and made it easier to transport ore to Glendalough where it could be more easily processed. The rusted remains of ore crushers can still be seen at the Miner's Village, however, the tramway and inclined rails system are gone. Surrounding Glendalough are the mountains of Camaderry , the hydroelectric station at Turlough Hill , and large massif of Conavalla which dominates the head of the valley, and the peaks of Lugduff , and Mullacor .

Glendalough is surrounded by semi natural oak woodland. Much of this was formerly coppiced (cut to the base at regular intervals) to produce wood, charcoal and bark. In the springtime, the oakwood floor is carpeted with a display of bluebells, wood sorrel and wood anemones. Other common plants are woodrush, bracken, polypody fern and various species of mosses. The understorey is largely of holly, hazel and mountain ash.

Glendalough is a good place to look for some of Ireland's newest breeding species, such as the goosander and the great spotted woodpecker, and some of the rarest, such as the common redstart and the wood warbler; peregrine, white throated dipper, common cuckoo, eurasian jay and common buzzard can also be seen.

There are nine way marked trails of varying difficulty around Glendalough that are maintained by the Wicklow Mountains National Park (and who provide a map of all trails). As the entire White Route loop is on paths (either stone/sand paths or boarded railway sleepers), it can be completed in running shoes and does not require climbing footwear; the entire 9 kilometre loop of the White Route, starting and ending at the upper lake car park, takes circa 2–3 hours. The 30 kilometre medieval pilgrimage tail, Saint Kevin's Way, starts in Hollywood, and ends in Glendalough.