17 Mar Glenmalur Valley, County Wicklow
The Glenmalur Valley is considered by many to be the most spectacular of County Wicklow’s glens, by others to be sombre and forbidding. It carries the River Avonbeg and begins just South of Rathdrum, but becomes a long, narrow glacial amphitheatre, with steep sides, above Drumgoff. Where the Wicklow Mountains road crosses the Valley, a ruined barracks dating from the turn of the 18th century stands guard.
The peaks of Lugnaquillia, at 3039ft the highest in the Wicklow Mountains, and Mullacor (2179ft) rise on either side of the road, which runs across humpbacked bridges and past cows grazing in the pastureland on the mountain slopes. Red deer and pine marten inhabit remote corners of the valley, and sheep forage on the heights between trickling waterfalls and fields of loose scree. The road eventually becomes a rough track leading over Table Mountain (2303ft) to the Glen of Imail.
The Glenmalur Valley is a real hidden gem with spectacular views hat are a must see on your tours of Ireland.