County Wicklow

County Wicklow (Irish: Contae Chill Mhantáin) is a region in Ireland's East Coast and Midlands. It is also widely known as the Garden of Ireland. This nickname was given with good reason as County Wicklow offers some of the most beautiful scenery in Ireland & indeed Europe. Wicklow offers tourists & travellers towering mountains, crystal-clear rivers & lush forests, all within easy reach of Dublin, the capital city of Ireland. Regions Although there are no official regions in County Wicklow there is a notable East/West divide. People in the county are often very proud of being from either West-Wicklow or East-Wicklow & are often very proud of their respective region. East-Wicklow generally includes all of the land east of the Wicklow mountains which divide the county & generally includes the following towns + villages... Wicklow Town Bray Arklow Rathdrum Enniskerry Roundwood Rathnew Laragh Glendalough Similarily West-Wicklow generally includes all of the land to the west of the Wicklow mountains & includes (among others). Blessington Baltinglass Dunlavin Towns The major towns of County Wicklow are... Wicklow Town Arklow Bray Blessington Baltinglass County Wicklow is a very mountainous with the highest peak Lugnaquilla rising to 3018 ft (925m). The mountains dominate the North and centre of the county, while along the coast is relatively flat while South Wicklow gives way to rolling hills where there is a lot more farmland. Much of the mountaineous area is covered with a layer of peat and this in turn has heather and conifer evergreen forests growing on it, with gorse in the more dryer areas. This makes for an scenic vegetation and gives it the rugged appearence. Other destinations Glendalough -This is one of the main tourist attractions of Wicklow. Powerscourt House & Gardens just outside Enniskerry village Powerscourt Waterfall -Ireland's highest waterfall. Meeting of the Waters Understand Talk As in the rest of Ireland English is the language spoken by the majority. Get in Get around See Glendalough -Historic location with an round tower from possibly the 12th century. There are also two small scenic lakes. It is in a glacial valley. Turlough Hill -site of the only pumped storage scheme in Ireland built by the ESB in the 1970s. This consists of two small lakes, one of which is artifical and sits on top of the mountain and stores water for later use in generating hydro power. You can hike up to this in a few hours from Glendalough Somewhere deep in the glen there lies 'Philosophy park', where a nutty (ahem, eccentric), chap imports giant stone statues of Ganesh (with floppy disks) from India. Amongst other masterpieces, there is a 20 foot stone finger standing straight in the middle of the a field, and some signs in a marsh that say things like 'mum freezes'. You won't forget it in a hurry, but you could say the same thing about water torture. Do Hill Walking A list of some of the more interesting and higher peaks to hike are: Lugnaquilla (3,018 ft) Mullaghcleevaun (2,608 ft) Tonelagee (2,681 ft -estimated from metre figure) Djouce (2,379 ft) Table Mountain (701m) And for those looking for a 2 or 3 day walk. Walk the Wicklow Way. This extends from foothills of the Wicklow mountain in south County Dublin right through the main mountainous parts of Wicklow on down to the very south of the county. Eat Drink Sleep Get out This article is an outline and needs more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. Please plunge forward and help it grow!