Touring the Wicklow Mountain National Park, Ireland!

November 5, 2019 by nikirath 7 Comments

A visit to Ireland is really incomplete without visiting the untamed countryside. Since I did not have a car as a means of transport while I was in Ireland, I decided to go on bus tour to explore the Wicklow Mountain National Park. Just a few hours drive away from Dublin, surrounded by glacial valleys, rolling hills and ancient ruins, stands the Wicklow mountains. Our tour guide from Wild Rover tour was quite entertaining. He made us laugh all throughout bus ride. He showed us the sights where various movies such as “ The Vikings” and “PS  I Love you” were shot. It indeed looked like a very romantic location and as our bus climbed up the elevation of the mountains, our ears popped with the change of pressure.

The most incredible stop that we made was the Glendalough Valley. It was originally a monastic settlement in the 6th century with ruins left behind now. The remains of the round tomb, graveyards and churches stood so beautifully even after so many years. I was lucky to have the company of my two fellow travelers when we walked to the Glendalough Lake together. The walk was beautiful along the trail towards the lake and back via a well-constructed board walk. We spotted sheep and deer while we walked back and looked through the vast stretches of green land.

Round Tomb

Priest’s home

Church ruins

Monastic Ruins

Graveyard

The part I was most excited about in my tour was our visit to the sheep farm and interaction with our shepherd about the sheep dog demonstration. As soon as I reached there I was so happy to see the Border collie dog and the sheep up so close. All the other visitors gathered around as well and the shepherd started to tell us all about how the lamb business is so prevalent in Ireland. He showed us how the dog is trained to help the shepherd by controlling the sheep and their directions of grazing. It was amazing to see the dog follow the whistles of the shephard , run and herd the sheep. I also got a chance to get so close to the sheep and pet them. Overall my day exploring the countryside left me wonder struck that Ireland is so beautiful.

Glendelough Lake

Fellow Travelers

Sheep Dog Demontration

Sheep hug

All kinds of sheep

Have you recently been to any farms you have loved? Do animals give you happiness. Please share, I would love to read!