Glendalough is the site most people come for: St Kevin’s monastic ruins strung along the valley floor between two glacial lakes, with marked trails running past the remains of a 19th-century mining village. It is also the busiest thing on this list, and almost everything else here sits in much quieter country.
A good half of the sixteen places cluster in the south-west, on the granite ground around Baltinglass and Blessington. Baltinglass has the free ruins of its 12th-century Cistercian abbey by the Slaney, with Rathcoran on the hill above, a passage tomb as old as Newgrange sitting inside a hillfort built some 2,500 years later. Castleruddery’s embanked circle lies in a grazing field nearby, and the Athgreany Piper’s Stones stand on a low hill about 2 km south of Hollywood, just off the N81. Russborough House and Burgage Cemetery are both at Blessington.
The rest is scattered and needs a car. Glencree, 40 minutes from Dublin, holds Ireland’s only German war cemetery and a peace centre in an 1806 barracks. Preban is a country graveyard in the southern foothills where Neolithic rock art turned up on reused stones. Seefin and Rathcoran both mean a short steep climb, better done in clear weather; gorse now covers much of Rathcoran’s interior. St Crispin’s Cell is the one coastal ruin, on the Greystones cliff walk.
Early-medieval monastic stonework, two glacial lakes and marked trails in a single valley, which is why it leads any Wicklow history list.
A ring of sixteen granite boulders on a low hill above the N81, with a lone outlier stone and a rag-hung hawthorn.
Free ruins of a 12th-century Cistercian abbey on the Slaney, under hills found in 2025 to hold Ireland and Britain's largest prehistoric settlement.
Ireland's only German war cemetery sits in an old quarry here, beside a peace centre in an 1806 barracks, all free to visit.
A volunteer-cleared country graveyard where Neolithic cup-and-ring rock art was spotted on stones reused among the 18th-century headstones.
15 of 16 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Glendalough, wicklow
Glendalough combines early-medieval stonework, glacial lakes and a network of marked walking trails in the heart of the Wicklow Mountains. From St Kevin’s monastery to the remnants of a 19th-century mining village, the valley packs history, wildlife and outdoor adventure into a single location.
Hollywood, wicklow
The Athgreany stone circle, better known as the Piper's Stones, is a ring of granite boulders on a low hill above the N81, about 2 km south of Hollywood. Sixteen stones survive of a larger circle roughly 23 metres across, with a lone outlier – the piper – standing about 36 metres to the north-east. A gnarled hawthorn grows among the stones, still hung with rags left as offerings.
Baltinglass, wicklow
Baltinglass is a south Wicklow town on the River Slaney, best known for the free ruins of its 12th-century Cistercian abbey. The hills above it turned out in 2025 to hold the largest prehistoric settlement ever found in Ireland or Britain, older than any town.
Wicklow Mountains, wicklow
Glencree is a Wicklow Mountains valley 40 minutes from Dublin, home to Ireland's only German war cemetery – 134 graves gathered into an old quarry beside the river – and the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, housed in an 1806 British barracks. The valley walks, cemetery and grotto are free.
wicklow
Preban is a country graveyard in the south Wicklow foothills, cleared by local volunteers from 2010. Among the 18th-century headstones – one carved by the noted Wexford stonecutter Denis Cullen – the archaeologist Christiaan Corlett spotted much older marks: Neolithic cup-and-ring rock art on reused stones. A restored St John's Church of 1827 stands close by.
Blessington, wicklow
Russborough is one of Ireland's grandest Palladian houses, with a 210-metre façade above the Blessington Lakes and the celebrated Beit art collection inside. Beyond the guided house tour there's a 2km beech maze, a bird-of-prey centre and miles of parkland trails.
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A cruciform passage tomb older than the pyramids sits open to the sky on Seefin's summit, its corbelled roof long collapsed so you can see straight into the chambers. The walk up is short but rough and unmarked, the parking is tight, and the approach skirts an army firing range – check for red flags before you climb.
Wicklow, wicklow
Wicklow Gaol on Kilmantin Hill held United Irishmen after 1798, famine convicts bound for Australia, and republicans including Erskine Childers before his 1922 execution. Costumed day tours and adults-only night and paranormal tours work the cell blocks, though the building is currently closed for renovation with no reopening date set.
Blessington, wicklow
Baltinglass, wicklow
Shillelagh, wicklow
Wicklow, wicklow
Baltinglass Hill, wicklow
Rathdown Upper, wicklow
Dunlavin, wicklow
Wicklow, wicklow
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