The Wicklow Way () is a long-distance trail that crosses the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland. It runs from Marlay Park in the southern suburbs of Dublin through County Wicklow and ends in the village of Clonegal in County Carlow. It is designated as a National Waymarked Trail by the Irish Sports Council and is waymarked by posts with a yellow "walking man" symbol and a directional arrow. Typically completed in 5–7 days, it is one of the busiest of Ireland's National Waymarked Trails, with up to 24,000 people a year walking the most popular sections. The Way is also used regularly by a number of mountain running competitions.
The trail follows forest tracks, mountain paths, boreens and quiet country roads. Mountains, upland lakes and steep-sided glacial valleys make up the terrain of the initial northern sections of the Way before giving way to gentler rolling foothills in the latter southern sections. Much of the route follows the contact point between the igneous granite of the western side of Wicklow and the metamorphic schists and slates of the eastern side. The principal habitat of the upland sections is a mixture of broadleaf and coniferous woodland, heath and blanket bog while in the lowland sections the hedgerows marking the boundaries between fields support a variety of wildlife. The Way also passes the Monastic City at Glendalough, founded in the 6th century by Saint Kevin.
The Wicklow Way was originally proposed by J. B. Malone in a series of newspaper articles in 1966. In 1977, Malone was appointed to the Long Distance Walking Routes Committee of , the National Sports Council, and set about making the concept a reality. Malone's original proposal for a circular route around Wicklow was dropped in favour of the linear route that exists today because the Government wanted the Wicklow Way to form part of a network of walking routes around the country. The first section opened in 1980The Wicklow Way Templeogue Telegraph, p. 17. March 1981. Quote: "The opening of the first stage of the WICKLOW WAY last summer...." and the trail was fully completed in 1982. While the Ulster Way was the first waymarked trail for walkers in all of Ireland, the Wicklow Way became the first of many National Waymarked Trails to be developed in the Republic of Ireland: there are now over forty such trails, covering a distance of over . The Way forms part of European walking route E8 which stretches from the Atlantic coast of County Cork to Istanbul in Turkey. A memorial to J. B. Malone, who died in 1989, was erected on the Wicklow Way, near Lough Tay, in honour of his contribution.
The provision of and access to the routes through the countryside used by the Wicklow Way is dependent on agreement with local authorities and landowners. Accordingly the route has been criticised for excessive use of routes through forestry plantations and roads. Proposals to address these issues were put forward in a review of the National Waymarked Trails published in 2010.
History
The concept of a long-distance trail through County Wicklow was first published by J. B. Malone (1914–1989) in a series of newspaper articles in 1966. Malone had a regular column on walking in Wicklow in the Evening Herald newspaper and had published two books – The Open Road (1950) and Walking in Wicklow (1964) – on the subject as well as contributing to the RTÉ television series Mountain and Meadow (1962). He proposed a circular route, dubbed "The Twelve Days of Wicklow", which he considered to be "a journey comparable to that along the celebrated "Pennine Way" but I would say more varied than its north British counterpart". The route consisted of twelve stages, beginning at Bohernabreena, near Tallaght, Dublin 24, and ending at Stepaside, County Dublin, as follows: Bohernabreena to Baltyboys (near Valleymount), via Athdown; Baltyboys to Ballinclea (near Donard), via Hollywood; Ballinclea to Aghavannagh, via Lugnaquilla summit; a rest day at Aghavannagh; Aghavannagh to Tinahely; a circular day route beginning and ending in Tinahely, via Shillelagh; Tinahely to Avoca; Avoca to Glenmalure, via Greenan; Glenmalure to Glendalough; a rest day at Glendalough; Glendalough to Knockree; and Knockree to Stepaside.
In 1977, Malone was appointed by John Bruton, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, to a committee to develop rural pathways within the Republic of Ireland. This evolved into the Long Distance Walking Routes Committee (LDWRC) of , the National Sports Council, where Malone, acting as Field Officer, set about developing a scheme for a "Wicklow Way" along the lines of what he had proposed twelve years earlier. The Irish Government's decision to develop a series of walking routes was prompted in response to the development of the Ulster Way in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. Malone's original concept of a circular route returning to Dublin via West Wicklow was dropped in favour of the linear path between Marlay Park and Clonegal that exists today, mainly because the Government wanted the Wicklow Way to form part of national network of trails to cover Ireland. Issues regarding access were another reason. Nevertheless, the route remains substantially as planned in 1966. In developing the route, the LDWRC made use of many existing paths, tracks and forest roads but, having no compulsory powers to include any of these, the provision of and access to such routes was, and continues to be, achieved by agreement with local authorities and landowners.
The first section of the Way – from Marlay Park to Luggala – was opened by Jim Tunney, Minister of State at the Department of Education, on 15 August 1980. The second section – from Luggala to Moyne – was opened by Michael Keating, Minister of State at the Department of Education, on 27 September 1981. The final stretch as far as Clonegal was completed in 1982. The Irish name of the Wicklow Way – – is not a literal translation but means 'New Cuala Way', a reference to the , one of five ancient routes that radiated from the Hill of Tara that ran through the land of Cuala (modern-day Wicklow).
The route of the Wicklow Way has been altered on a number of occasions since opening in 1980, generally as a result of problems with erosion or difficulties with rights of way. For instance, concerns about erosion led to the Way being diverted away from Fairy Castle, the summit of Two Rock mountain. Similarly, the Way was also diverted away from the summit of Mullacor, which at was the highest point on the Way before the trail was rerouted. In 1999, the Way was diverted away from the village of Laragh on foot of an objection by a local landowner, to the chagrin of businesses in the village dependent on the custom of walking tourists. A number of information boards and stone landmarks were erected in 2006 to mark the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Way. The state-owned forestry company Coillte has in recent years worked with a number of tourism and voluntary bodies to upgrade sections of the Way that run through its lands. Today, the Wicklow Way is managed by the Wicklow Outdoor Recreation Committee.
The Wicklow Way was the second waymarked way to be opened in Ireland, and the first waymarked way to be opened in the Republic of Ireland. The LDWRC (now the National Trails Advisory Committee of the Irish Sports Council) went on to develop many more long distance walking routes, the intention at the time being to develop a walking route around Ireland. There are now more than forty National Waymarked Trails, comprising over of trails in Ireland.
Usage and criticism
On account of being the second waymarked way to be developed in all of Ireland and also on account of its proximity to Dublin, the Wicklow Way is one of the most popular of Ireland's National Waymarked Trails. It has, however, been subject to some criticisms. Since access to lands along the Way is on a permissive basis, much of the walk () is on tarred country roads, is highly dependent on access provided by the state, ( is on land owned by Coillte and is on land owned by the Wicklow Mountains National Park) and covers a relatively small amount of private land (). Most of the road walking is confined to the southernmost section of the Way, between Tinahely and Clonegal, where some 63% of the route is on roads. Research by the Wicklow Uplands Council showed that while up to 24,000 people a year walk along the busiest sections, this number falls to under 2,500 a year on the stretches south of Glenmalure.
The extensive use of forest roads through conifer plantations has been another criticism: the authors of the Lonely Planet guidebook, Walking in Ireland, found, "The Way's one shortcoming is the character of the walking [...] you'll become all too familiar with forest tracks and roads through conifer plantations [...] where they're surrounded by tall, dense forest they're not particularly interesting". Similarly, Paul Gosling, who walked the Way for The Independent, found that, "While the long distance path is, on occasion, very attractive, it is not so much hazardous as unadventurous. [...] Over the next four and a half days, we lost our enthusiasm for conifers [...] The views were restricted and there was little sign of wildlife". In The Irish Times, John G. O'Dwyer described them as "gloomy trails through invading armies of monoculture [...] as memorable as a motorway median".
A review of the National Waymarked Trails in the Republic of Ireland by the National Trails Office in 2010 acknowledged these shortcomings and recommended that the Wicklow Way be selected as one of fourteen trails to be upgraded to a National Long Distance Trail. This is a proposed new standard of trail in Ireland, intended to meet international standards for outstanding trails. It would require sections on unsuitable roads to comprise less than 10% of the total trail and for appropriate support services – accommodation, meals, transport, luggage transfer etc. – to be available. The review also recommended the development of shorter looped walks off the Wicklow Way and improving parking facilities.
Route The Wicklow Way is waymarked in both directions and can be started at Marlay Park or Clonegal. The trail is marked with square black posts with an image, in yellow, of a walking man and a directional arrow. This image, copied from the symbol used for waymarking the Ulster Way, has become the traditional waymarking symbol for all of the National Waymarked Trails in Ireland. Brown fingerposts are used on sections that follow roads. The Way is typically completed in five to seven days.
Marlay Park to Knockree