Brockagh Mountain

Explorer Tom Glendalough Round Tower would take its lotto win and buy a really expensive hat to match its ancient style. It’s been standing there long enough to know that fashion is just a suggestion anyway. Practise your Irish on it, it won't correct you, but the wind definitely will.

Explorer Tom Cloigtheach in Sevenchurches would tell you in a job interview that he has excellent stability and zero need for a desk. He’s thirty metres of pure granite attitude, standing there while the wind tries to push him over. Stand still and listen, the wind tells it better than me.

Explorer Tom G. Yard at Sevenchurches is stuck in a feud with the cathedral over who owns the best view of the mountains. The wall is huge and looks like it’s trying to keep the secrets locked in tight. A good place to forget your phone for ten minutes.

Explorer Tom The Priests Church or St. Kevins Library is a twelfth-century ruin that has been hiding its scandal for centuries. It’s a small rectangular building that has seen some reconstruction work. The Romanesque arched recess on the east side is a nice touch. Pick a stone, any stone, and invent its biography.

Explorer Tom I thought Glendalough would be a quick stop. Wicklow laughed. Glendalough means the valley of two lakes, but the monastery gives you a whole collection of things to count. Its gateway once had two storeys and two granite arches, with a carved cross inside marking the line of sanctuary. I would pause there before charging in like a man late for a bus. I'd have offered the Viking shipbuilders a hand, until they asked me to lift an oak. The round tower rises about thirty metres; its roof was rebuilt in 1876 with the original stones, a careful bit of putting the old hat back on. Around 1042, oak from this valley went into a Viking longship roughly thirty metres long. That is a surprising second life for a Wicklow tree. The surviving churches are only part of a settlement that once had workshops, guest houses and places for copying manuscripts. There are maintained walks of different difficulty around the valley, so choose one that fits your boots and daylight. Find the gateway first; it still knows how to welcome you.

Explorer Tom St Kieran’s Church would post a selfie and caption it ‘living my best life’ every single day. It’s just foundations now, but the attitude is still very much intact. Have a look and decide if I was lying.

Explorer Tom Camaderry is pumping water straight through its own gut to power the lights up on Turlough Hill. It’s basically a natural hydro-electric engine that doesn’t even pay rent for the privilege. Make a wish, it's had centuries of practice.

Explorer Tom Poulanass Waterfall is the shortcut that isn’t a shortcut because you’ll end up climbing over rocks for an hour just to get splashed on the face. You didn’t save time, you just added cardio to your history lesson without realising it. Bring your own legend, I've run out.

Explorer Tom Tonelagee's Irish name means backside to the wind, which sounds like advice I have followed on every wet hill in Wicklow. At 817 metres it is the county's third-highest mountain. A deep, heart-shaped Lough Ouler lies below between neighbouring summits, while the long boggy ridge toward the north makes even a map look damp. I would promise to find the exact angle for a perfect heart photograph, then have the cloud close in as punishment for showing off. This is exposed upland with bog and steep ground, so check lawful routes and weather, bring navigation and give the lake's edges proper respect. The name earns a laugh, but the hill earns serious footwear. Look down toward the water when conditions allow. Nature drew a heart here without asking my opinion on romance.

Explorer Tom Wicklow Gap makes crossing mountains look easy because somebody laid a road through the argument. The R756 climbs to about 475 metres between Tonelagee and the Turlough Hill side, linking the country toward Dunlavin with Glendalough. Saint Kevin's Way crosses too, giving walkers a very different pace from my optimistic driving. On an exceptionally clear day, the Welsh mountains can appear across the sea. I would promise that view on demand, but even my cheek cannot order the weather around. The pass is open road and exposed upland, so check conditions, park only where allowed and never wander into traffic for a photograph. Look at the slopes on both sides before heading down. A gap is simply a mountain's way of letting you through on its own terms.

Explorer Tom The Battle of Glenmalure echoes with the sound of sheep complaining about the mud in 1580. Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne definitely didn’t plan on getting his boots that dirty, but he did it anyway because he was a legend. Leave nothing but footprints and a bad pun.

Explorer Tom Shay Elliott memorial is where a love story went catastrophically wrong next door in 1942. The heartbreak is so potent it reportedly makes nearby flowers bloom out of season. Look up, the best bit is always higher than you think.