Wicklow Mountains

The Wicklow Mountains rise south of Dublin, their uplands cut by deep valleys and streams. For centuries the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles held ground in these hills on the edge of the English Pale. Glenmalure was a stronghold of Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne, whose forces defeated an English army there in 1580. The mountains sheltered resistance again after the rising of 1798. Michael Dwyer and his followers continued their struggle around Glenmalure and the Glen of Imaal, prompting the authorities to build a military road and barracks into the hills.