The Walk
The Wicklow Way is 132km in length beginning in Dublin’s suburbs and ending at Clonegal in Carlow. The entire walk is designed to cater for the serious walker with each stage taking between 3 and 8 hours to complete but there are many more, shorter, looped walks that meander off the main Wicklow Way route perfect for a summers day ramble in the countryside. See our short walks section for information on these.
The Way was the brainchild of J.B Malone who first conceived of the walk in 1966. Since then it has prospered growing in popularity every year. If you are one of the brave and decide you would like to give it a go, then here are a few tid bits of advice. The northernmost part of the trail offers some of the most beautiful views in the whole of of the Emerald Eye. Known as the ‘Garden of Ireland’, Wicklow is undoubtedly one of the most glorious places in which you could wish to spend time outdoors. This rings especially true when the sun is shining and you have nothing to do. The Way passes through the regions of Glendalough and Glenmalure where you will encounter long, twisting forest walks and mountainous terrain. This is contrasted by the southern parts of the walk which consist of a much higher percentage of road walking.
Some people prefer cut the last stage or two out of their walking plans altogether and opt, perhaps, to start from Shillelagh or Tinahely. Walking purists might differ. What ever you decide is right for you, the important thing is that you have a damn good time. For more advice on safety, code of conduct, what to bring and the best time of year to go walk about, visit the advice section of this site . If, however, you are willing to put in the walking hours you will be rewarded with awe-inspiring vistas of an Irish countryside steeped in history and brimming with life.
JB Malone was born in south Dublin in 1914. As a young man, he walked all over Ireland, but spent the majority of his time exploring the Dublin mountains, which were visable from his home. Between the years of 1932 and 1945, he kept journals of these walks.
These journals became the basis for The Wicklow Way. These journals were extreamly detailed. Each section would start with a list of points which a certain trail encapsulates (EG Enniskerry – Tinnehinch – Glencree – Lough Bray – Sally Gap – Luggala – Togher – Longhill – Enniskerry). This list would be followed by a comprehensive description of the trail. These descriptions, however, were constantly changing, as Malone's great sense of intrigue and wonder led him to find more and more hidden marvels of the area. In 1938, Dublin baised newspaper, The Evening Herald, comissioned Malone to write a column for the paper about Hillwaking, entitled Byways of Wicklow.
This column spured Malone on to writing his first two books, The Open Road (in 1950) and Walking in Wicklow (in 1964). He also made a TV series in 1962, called Mountain and Meadow, which was broadcast on RTE and depicted many of Malone's favourite walks through Dublin and Wicklow. Malone first published his vision of The Wicklow Way in 1966. Initially, his idea was to have a circular route which led down the eastern side of the Wicklow Mountains and returning to Dublin via the western side. However, this route suffered from access problems and in the end, Malone settled for a route from Marlay Park in Dublin, to Moyne in County Wicklow.
This route was later expanded, to it's current manifestation, from Marlay Park to Clonegal, in County Carlow. However, there remains support for the route to be altered to include a return trail, similar to Malone's origional plan. In 2000, there was a Millennium project sponsered by the Heritage Council to link Glendalough to Hollywood, to the west. As his stature grew in the field of hillwalking, J.B. Malone was made Field Officer of Cospoir's long distance walking routes committee. In this capacity, in 1981, he oversaw the official signposting and opening of The Wicklow Way as Ireland's first waymarked long distance walking route. Other routes were opened around the country, including The Kerry Way and The Dingle Way. It is estimated that there is currently over two thousand kilometers of way marked trails in Ireland.
The Wicklow Way is part of the European Ramblers Association. The ERA was founded in 1969 and now comprises 56 different walking organisations from 27 countries. The basic aim of the association is to work together with all of these organisations towards helping walkers across the continent. The paths overseen by the ERA form a cobweb across Europe spanning many thousand kilometers. J.B. Malone passed away, aged 76, in 1990. His legacy lives on, with thousands of people, both Irish and foreign tourists, completing The Wicklow Way each year. In light of this, a memorial stone has been placed at the shores of Lough Tay, one of the most scenic areas along The Wicklow Way.