“Like the bright lamp that shone in Kildare’s holy fane,
And burnt through long ages of darkness and storm,
Is the heart that deep sorrows have frowned on in vain,
Whose spirit outlives them, unfading and warm.”
This convent of St. Bridget’s was founded in the fifth century, and its perpetual fire was kept burning until the Reformation. The house where it originally burned is still in evidence, and the cathedral castle and round tower (130 feet in height) form a triumvirate of venerable attractions for all.
To the northward is the Hill of Allen, once crowned, it is said, with three royal residences belonging to the Kings of Leinster.
Wicklow Gap, Glendalough, and the Seven Churches next command attention, as one journeys toward Wicklow town.
Glendalough is thirty miles from Dublin, locally known—and perhaps more widely—as “The Valley of the Seven Churches.” It is the locale of the legend of St. Kevin and Kathleen. The antiquarians have evolved an elaborate thread of legend and tradition concerning
