Wicklow Ireland

Wicklow is a short drive from Dublin. We visited near dusk and were rewarded with a windswept view that is reminiscent of the Cliffs of Moher, only much shorter.

We didn’t know there was a castle on the bluff, but I guess that shouldn’t surprise us any more. There are castles everywhere in Ireland.

We walked out on the spongy grass to get these photos and were surprised to see people so close to the edge. I will visit the sweaty palms subreddit, but I’m not going to get that close to the edge for any reason.

We realized they had a reason. They were depositing the ashes of a loved one on the cliffs. It seems like a good place for that. After they left we went closer to the castle and saw they had left rose pedals on the rocks, too.

“This castle, built on the site of an earlier Viking fort, was constructed in the late 1170s by the Norman family the Fitzgeralds. The keep of the Castle was originally four stories high and was entered by crossing a drawbridge. During the next five centuries the castle was periodically under attack from local chieftains, the O’Byrnes and O’Tooles. In the mid 1640s the castle was finally destroyed by fire and has stood as a ruin ever since.”

The site is gorgeous and well worth the short drive.

~ Freddy