The Insurgents

 Concluding our brief historical tour of the Glenmalure Valley, Co Wicklow, we're near the Barravore Ford, where we find monuments to the 1798 Rebellion and the romantic insurgents led by Michael Dwyer who held out in this area for nearly six years after the uprising had been suppressed.

Thinking that he was surrendering on his own terms, Dwyer was led to believe that he would be granted passage to the fledgling United States of America. However, once the authorities had their man, they ignored the terms that were agreed and imprisoned him in Kilmainham Gaol along with some of his men.  Michael Dwyer was held there for some eighteen months before being sent to the penal colony of Botany Bay in Australia.

The Battle Of Glenmalure

The wild and beautiful valley of Glenmalure is today a centre for hill walking, canoeing, and all things outdoors, but it's also steeped in history.

The Battle of Glenmalure took place here in 1580 during the Desmond Rebellions. An Irish Catholic force of some 600 men made up of the Gaelic clans from the Wicklow Mountains led by Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne and James Eustace, Viscount Baltinglas, defeated an English army under Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton, at the O'Byrne's mountain stronghold in Glenmalure. Grey led his force of 3,000 men, mostly inexperienced recruits, into the valley and when attempting to scale the northern slopes of the valley, were ambushed by the rebels who were hidden in the undergrowth on both sides and in front.  The English recruits were overwhelmed by the ferocity of the rebels' attack and their eventual retreat resulted in the massacre of almost 800 of Grey's men.

Commemorating the battle, the folk song 'Follow Me Up To Carlow', particularly notable as one of the most graphically violent of all Irish folk songs, was performed by, amongst many others, the folk band Planxty.

As It Should Be

Today we're deep in the Wicklow Mountains in the beautiful and remote Glenmalure valley, southwest of Glendalough.  The longest glacier valley in the British Isles, Glenmalure is extremely rugged and wild, and was the scene of several battles over the centuries.

Gaelic clansmen defeated an English force here in 1272.  Another led by King Richard II passed through here in 1399 in pursuit of Art Mor McMorrough but were continually harassed by the clansmen who simply disappeared into the deep forests.  Eventually, the King's knights and foot soldiers, decimated and starving, made their way to Arklow where ships awaited to take them and their doomed monarch back to England.

So we make our way past the last outpost of civilisation, The Glenmalure Lodge, and head straight through the Drumgoff crossroads and continue along the lane, savouring the breathtaking scenery on either side of the valley all the way to the dead end at Barravore.  All further progress is entirely on foot, and this is as it should be!