13 Old Ruins to Explore in Wicklow

Athgreany is a picturesque circle of 16 grey granite stones and an outlier. Some of these pillars and boulders are up to two meters high and enclose an area of about twenty two meters across. Now the site is composed of 16 granite boulders, with 5 remaining in their original placements.

Avondale House,is the birthplace and home of Charles Stewart Parnell. It is set in the Avondale Forest Park, approximately 1.5 km from the nearby town of Rathdrum. The House is now a museum open to visitors, who are introduced to the house by an audio visual presentation. Other facilities include a restaurant, book shop, picnic areas, children's play area, two orienteering courses. In the surrounding parkland are tree trails and walks ranging in duration from one to five hours.

The Abbey is situated on the east bank of the River Slaney on the North side of Baltinglass town.The Abbey was founded in 1148 by Dermot McMurrogh. Dermot McMurrogh brought Cistercian monks from Mellifont. It was established for the Cistercians which was called “The Valley of Salvation”.The six beautiful Gothic arches on either side of the nave, supported by alternate round and square pillars, are a noteworthy feature of the ruins.

On the eastern outskirts of Wicklow Town on a rock above the sea lies the ruin of Black Castle. Only a few fragments of the wall remain of the castle built by the Normans at the end of the 12th century. It stands on a rocky promontory over the sea, at the eastern side of the town. Following the arrival of the Norman’s in 1169 Earl Strongbow was granted the lands along the East Coast. He in turn granted those lands to Baron Maurice Fitzgerald on condition that he build castles for protection.

A well preserved ceremonial circle stands four and half km south of Donard village in Castleruddery Lower. This site consists of an inner circle of twenty nine large stones, some standing erect, others lying surrounded by a flat earthen bank. Two extremely large quartz boulders on the eastern side, possibly mark the entrance. Locally, the circle is thought to have special healing properties.

Glenart Castle was the residence of the late Lord and Lady Carysfort. The Castle is half in ruins but the other part is good and is kept by cartetakers. There were about eighty rooms in the Castle when it was built, but nine of the rooms were burnt and a lot of most valuable furniture was destroyed, the value of which amounted to forty-five thousand pounds.

Glendalough Cathedral is one of Ireland’s earliest Christian monasteries. Its seven church ruins are found in the stunning Glendalough Valley, part of Wicklow Mountains National Park. Exploring the monastery and any of the Glendalough Walks is a great day trip from Dublin.

The round tower at Glendalough is considered by many to be one of the most finely constructed and beautiful towers in Ireland. Situated in a thickly forested valley, the 30.48 metre tall tower is built of mica schist with a granite doorway. The conical roof was rebuilt in 1876 using the original stones that were found inside the tower. The round tower is divided internally into 6 storeys by timber floors, connected by ladders. The four storeys above entrance level are each lit by a small window.

Old Kilcoole Church is believed to have been constructed in the 12th century and was dedicated to St Mary. The Church consisted of a Nave and a Chancel and although in a ruinous state there is still quite an extensive amount of it remaining. The chancel probably once had a step-pitched stone roof, with a small attic roof over the chancel. The nave has a square baptismal font, a cross slab and a small round-headed window in the south wall

Rathgall is a multivallate hillfort, on the edge of a ridge with four concentric stone walls and extensive panoramic views. It is an imposing monument covering a total area of 7.5ha. This was a site of quite exceptional importance in the centuries spanning the birth of Christ, an importance that was clearly pan-European. A number of gold items have been found at the site also, as well as a burial site linked with later use of the site.

Russborough was built between 1741-1750 and is regarded as one of Ireland's most beautiful houses. It may be the longest house in Ireland. The interior contains ornate plasterwork on the ceilings by the Lafranchini brothers, who also collaborated with Castle on Carton House. Russborough contains a private collection of European fine and decorative arts, including furniture, silver, porcelain and paintings.

Seefin Passage Tomb is a passage grave and National Monument located atop Seefin Hill, County Wicklow, Ireland. The tomb was built circa 3,300 BC. It was excavated by R. A. Stewart Macalister in 1931, but no artefacts or human remains were found, suggesting that no-one was ever buried there, or that the remains were later removed. There are large kerb stones around the base of the tomb and the tomb has a passageway 7 mlong which opens into a chamber with five compartments.

A former prison located in the town of Wicklow, County Wicklow, Ireland. The prison was closed down by 1900 but reopened to hold republican prisoners during the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War; the last prisoners left in 1924. It was now a museum claiming to be one of the world's most haunted buildings, due to the long history of suffering associated with it. The prison was featured on a 2009 episode of Ghost Hunters International.