Overview
The view is the reason to come, not the stone. The J.B. Malone Memorial sits on the slopes of the Wicklow Mountains, a short walk from the car park along a rocky forest path and then a raised boardwalk built from railway sleepers and chicken-wire grates. The boardwalk keeps boots off the fragile blanket bog while giving a stable path for most ages. At the end is a plain granite plaque marking the spot where John James Bernard Malone surveyed the hills he did more than anyone to open to the public.
History and legacy
Malone was born in Leeds in 1913 to Dublin parents and moved to Ireland in 1931. His first real climb was up Montpelier Hill to the Hellfire Club ruins. In the Irish Army he worked as an intelligence cartographer, mapping routes that would later turn into walking trails; he then joined the civil service without ever giving up the hills. From 1938 to 1975 he wrote a weekly Evening Herald column, ‘Over the Hills’, and in the 1960s he presented RTÉ’s ‘Mountain and Meadow’ series, which brought the Irish uplands into front rooms around the country.
His lasting mark came in 1966, when he proposed a waymarked long-distance trail through the Wicklow Mountains. As a field officer for the Long Distance Walking Routes Committee, he negotiated rights of way with landowners to make it happen. The result was the Wicklow Way, Ireland’s first officially waymarked long-distance trail, which opened in 1982. After his death in October 1989, the memorial stone was set on this section of the route.
The view
Looking east, the draw is Lough Tay, better known as Guinness Lake. The peat-stained water is almost black, edged on its northern shore by a narrow strip of bright white sand that the Guinness family brought in for their Luggala estate below. The Great Sugar Loaf stands to the north, Djouce rises to the west, and the bog itself changes through the year: bluebells and primroses in spring, heather turning the slopes pink and purple in late summer.
Walking and access
The viewpoint is a short, signposted walk from the J.B. Malone car park. The first 150 metres are a rocky forest trail before the boardwalk takes over, wide and stable enough for a sturdy pushchair or a wheelchair user with reasonable mobility, though the rocky start needs care. The memorial is also the usual start for the J.B. Malone and Djouce loop, a moderate 11km circuit of about three and a half hours that climbs over White Hill to the 725m summit of Djouce. The local habit is to add a stone to the summit cairn before heading back.
Practical information
- Getting there: about 55 minutes’ drive from Dublin city centre. Take the M50 south, merge onto the M11 towards Wexford and follow the N11. Exit at the Kilmacanoge petrol station onto the R755 towards Roundwood, carry on about 10km to the signage for Djouce Golf Club, then turn right; the car park is on the right after another 4.5km.
- Parking: the main car park holds only a dozen or so cars, with an overflow lay-by 50 metres before the entrance. Weekends and summer holidays fill it early, so come first thing.
- Facilities: no toilets, shops or cafés at the memorial, just a bench beside the plaque. For a meal afterwards, Byrne & Woods in Roundwood is the usual stop, though it books out in peak season.
- On the day: mountain weather turns fast, so bring a waterproof and proper footwear. Dogs are welcome on a short lead to protect ground-nesting birds and the peatland.
- Leave No Trace: the site is in Wicklow Mountains National Park. Stay on the marked paths and take all litter home.
Nearby
- Ballinastoe MBT – a short detour into Ballinastoe Woods, with a dedicated mountain-bike trail centre and more forest paths.
- Luggala estate – the Guinness family estate over Lough Tay; the shore is private, but the viewpoint gives a clear line to the house and lake.
- Djouce summit – the top rewards you with a sweep to the Irish Sea on a clear day, with a trig point and the cairn worth the climb.
Come early for a parking space, walk the boardwalk slowly to let the bog recover, and pick out the same horizon lines that Malone wrote his column around.