The Featherbed Pass, Glencree and its Royal Forest, Loughs,  Bray, Sally Gap and Coronation Plantation

CHAPTER XXXV

The Featherbed Pass, Glencree and its Royal Forest, Loughs,  Bray, Sally Gap and Coronation Plantation

The whole of the district described in this chapter, though practicable for cyclists, is very wild and mountainous, necessitating at times walking long distances, but as the roads, on the whole, are fairly good, this will to some extent be compensated for by the long runs down hill. Unless on a motor there is no other way of exploring this wild region, as the distances to be covered are beyond the walking powers of most people, and a horse-drawn vehicle, in such a difficult country would, in point of speed, possess little advantage over walking.

Few, except those who have visited it, can form an adequate idea of this great tract of moor and mountain almost overlooking the Metropolis - a tract teeming, indeed, with busy life, but of a realm outside the sway of man’s sovereignty. Traversing this dark waste of moorland, the great Military road, winding over hill and dale, like a white ribbon flung across these desert solitudes, dominates the wildness and loneliness, and forms the sole link with civilisation in this region.

The initial portion of our journey lies through Rathfarnham, Willbrook, and Ballyboden, where we cross Billy’s bridge, and take the first turn on the left, known as Stocking Lane, shortly after which we must dismount and commence our long ascent of 4½ miles to the highest point of the Featherbed Pass over Killakee Mountain. Immediately now on our right is the auxiliary reservoir of the Rathmines Waterworks, and about half a mile further, we come to a level stretch of about one hundred yards, where, over a low wall to the right, is obtained the first extended view of the Dublin plain. The road now turns to the left, and at the corner is the entrance to Woodtown, built by George Grierson, King’s Printer, in the 18th century.

Continuing our journey under the shade of the trees bordering the road, we pass the well-known dashed wall, so liberally inscribed with the names of excursionists. A steep ascent now conducts us past the massive entrance gate to Mount Venus, and presently on our right is seen Oldcourt road, leading by Oldcourt, Allenton, and Oldbawn to Tallaght. We are now at the foot of Mount Pelier, where the steepest portion of the road commences, with Orlagh College and its woods in the immediate foreground, and beyond these the plain extending westward into the County Kildare. A little further, and somewhat to the right of the road, is a group of farmhouses which forms a conspicuous feature in the view of Mount Pelier as seen from the country northward, and a short distance flirther, we pass the well-kept stables of Lord Massey, his residence, Killakee House, being at the opposite side of the road, concealed by trees. It is from near this point that the ascent is usually made to the summit of Mount Pelier. To the right of the road the green hillside rises steeply, variegated by clumps of pines, larches, and patches of yellow furze, while over the low hedge on the left will be seen Kilmashogue Mountain, the Three Rocks, and in the distance, the coast, with Kingstown, Howth, and the various familiar objects in the Bay. Presently, reaching a sharp turn in the road, we pass a small disused reservoir enclosed by a grove of trees, from which point a field path leads to Piperstown in the Glennasmole Valley.

As we continue our journey along the steep ascent, on looking back, the old ruined house on the top of Mount Pelier will be seen rising into view, while through the trees bordering the road, the dark wooded entrance to Glendoo presents a striking appearance. At the next fingerpost we turn to the right, beside one of the old danger signposts of the C.T.C., which warns the cyclist that the hill is dangerous - a very necessary warning in the old days, when brakes were all but useless, several lives having been lost through carelessness in descending this hill.

At this point, some 1,250 feet high, leaving all traces of civilisation behind us, we enter upon a wild desert region, where we may well pause a few moments to look around us. Through the trees may be seen the coast and Bay, the Pigeonhouse, Poolbeg, and the white sands of the Bull, and down below us the valley of the Owen Dugher, with the little hamlets of Rockbrook and Edmondstown situated on its banks. The buildings of Rathfarnham Convent form a conspicuous object adjoining the village, and with a good glass we can even discern the doings in the little village street. Whitechurch spire seems quite close, peeping above its woods, beyond which are the heights and church of Taney. We have now walked three miles, and have consequently a mile and a half more to travel before we reach the summit level of the road, and most of this also will have to be walked. Continuing our journey over bog and moor, we may observe close to the road, remains of the small square waterholes cut in the bog in former years for the purpose of obtaining supplies of ice for town, before the modern system of manufacturing it had come into vogue. The distant view of the city is very striking from here, and at night the various lights of town make a brilliant show, with their reflection in the smoke and sky. There is little to disturb the silence of this wild region, and the ear soon becomes so accustomed to the stillness that, as we stand and listen, we almost resent as intrusions the various sounds which reach us at this great elevation - the cry of a bird winging its way over the moors, the bark of a distant sheep dog, or occasionally, borne on the breeze sweeping across these desert solitudes, the faint whistle of a train, softened and mellowed by distance.

As we continue the ascent we may observe, at the opposite side of Glennasmole, the mountains Seechon, Seefingan, and Seefinn; at the head of the valley is Kippure, the highest mountain in the district, and far down below are the reservoirs of the Rathmines Waterworks. At the upper end of the Waterworks lakes are the few houses that remain of the hamlet of Castlekelly, the picturesque woods enclosing Glennasmole (formerly Heathfield) Lodge, and above these, the infant Dodder glittering in the sunshine. Higher up, in front, may be seen the spur of Kippure which forms the beetling cliff overhanging Lough Bray. The dark brown slopes of Kippure will be seen to be sharply furrowed by the mountain torrents which swell the head waters of the Dodder in a region that, even on the brightest day, looks gloomy and inhospitable. We have now reached the summit of the Featherbed Pass, 1,611 feet high, and again mounting our machines, a rapid run along a straight stretch of road through the Featherbed Bog takes us to a sharp turn, descending to where, some hundreds of feet below, the Reformatory stands in a commanding and conspicuous position at the head of the Glencree valley. Almost all ordinary trades are taught in this institution, and the products are utilised by the inmates; the shoemakers and tailors supplying the boots and clothing, the younger boys the stockings, and the bakers all the bread used in the establishment. Besides these, there are carpenters, blacksmiths, butchers, painters, gardeners, plumbers, and labourers, with flilly equipped workshops for the several crafts, so that the establishment is almost entirely a self-contained one.

The Reformatory is marked on the older maps as “Glencree Barrack,” having been one of the series of barracks erected by the Government along the Military road after 1798, to keep the inhabitants of the County Wicklow in subjection.

Looking from near the Reformatory towards Lough Bray, the Military road may be seen in front, ascending in zig-zag fashion the heights near the upper Lough, and sometimes disappearing in the dark clouds which often overhang this wild mountain region.

Leaving the Reformatory, and commencing our journey down the Glencree Valley, we traverse for some miles a bleak and boggy country with groups of cottages scattered at intervals over the barren hillsides, almost every homestead sheltered by a few stunted trees, while the characteristic odour of turf smoke from the cottages along the road reminds us that we are in a bog country. As we continue our descent, we obtain a fine view of the precipitous heights of Tonduff, with its great pine forest, at the opposite side of the valley. Almost midway is the low, rounded hill of Knockree, completely encircled by a by-road, a short distance beyond which we pass the Curtlestown Catholic Chapel and National School. Near Kilmalin is St. Moling’s holy well, enclosed within the grounds of Powerscourt House, and now furnishing the water supply for that establishment. A mile beyond this point, we descend by one of the steepest hills in the county into Enniskerry, whence we can return to town by the Scalp or Bray as desired.

Glencree was in ancient times a Royal Park or preserve, almost entirely covered by primeval oak forest, and probably either wholly or partly enclosed by some description of artificial boundary to prevent the wild beasts preserved there from wandering away through the desert wilds of Wicklow. In *Sweetman’s Calendar *it is recorded that in 1244 eighty deer were sent from the Royal forest at Chester to stock the King’s park at Glencree, and that in 1296 the King sent a present to Eustace le Poer of twelve fallow deer from the Glencree forest.

As may be imagined, the repression of poaching formed no inconsiderable portion of the duties of the wardens or gamekeepers of this Royal preserve. Even the pious monks of St. Mary’s Abbey, Dublin, who owned property in this neighbourhood, were unable to resist the temptation, as appears from the Chartulary of the Abbey in 1291, when the Abbot was attached for hunting in the forest with dogs and implements of the chase. In 1283 William le Deveneis, keeper of the King’s demesne lands, was granted twelve oaks fit for timber from the King’s wood in “Glincry,” and a few years later, Queen Eleanor, wife of Edward I., established large timber works in the valley for the purpose of providing wood for her castle, then in process of erection at Haverford. William de Moenes (one of the family from which Rathmines derives its name) was keeper and manager of these works, and judging by the accounts of his operations in the State Papers, a very considerable thinning of the Royal forest must have been effected at this period.

The Justiciary Rolls of Edward I. in 1305 contain the entry of a complaint by Thomas de Sandely, a carpenter, to the effect that he was kept for three weeks in irons in the Castle of Dublin, at the suit of John Mathew, the Royal Forester at Glencree, who charged him with stealing timber. It appears that the culprit was caught in the act, but escaped and fled to Dublin, where he was arrested.

No further records of the Glencree forest can be discovered after this, and it seems probable that in consequence of the withdrawal of numbers of the English from Ireland for the purpose of the war in Scotland, and to join Edward the First’s expedition to Flanders, the forest had to be abandoned, and the Irish demolished it and its game. In any case it is pretty certain that no successful attempt could have been made to hold it during the rising of the Irish tribes and general disturbances in the country which followed the invasion of the Bruces a few years later.

At the present day, remains of the trees which composed this ancient forest are discovered in the bogs near Lough Bray, as well as on the slopes of the high hills in its neighbourhood. Of course, the Glencree forest only formed a small part of the wide-spreading forests alluded to by Holinshed and Spenser, who tell us that the Wicklow glens were full of great trees on the sides of the hills, and that these forests were interspersed with goodly valleys fit for fair habitations.

In the earlier days of the English occupation, when the tyrannical forest laws of the Normans were rigidly enforced, and the passion for the chase displaced all other considerations, the preservation of the natural forests became an important function of the Government. But at a later period the authorities viewed with anything but a friendly eye these great tracts of forest, on account of the shelter they afforded to the troublesome “wood kerne,” and in the State Papers the woods are described as “a shelter for all ill-disposed” and “the seat and nursery of rebellion.” After numerous plans had been suggested for the destruction of the woods, the Government at length adopted the surest and most profitable one, namely, the establishment of iron works in all the great forest districts.

The foregoing information respecting the Royal Forest of Glencree has been obtained from a paper on the subject by Mr. T. P. Le Fanu, in the *Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries for *1893.

As an alternative to returning by Glencree and Enniskerry, the wilder and more mountainous road by Lower and Upper Loughs Bray, Sally Gap and the Liffey valley may be taken, but this route, besides being longer, will entail more walking owing to the steep ascent. A mile beyond the Reformatory, we pass a cottage from which a pathway leads to Lough Bray - a wild, gloomy tarn, 1,225 feet over sea level, believed by some to be the crater of an old-world volcano. Over its western shore rises a lofty cliff terminating the ridge of Kippure, behind which the head waters of the Dodder - the stream known as Tromanallison - takes its origin. Lough Bray Cottage, standing on a slight eminence over the northern shore, is picturesquely embosomed in a grove of trees, and commands a full view of the lake and the rugged mountain cliffs that partly encompass it. It is built in the Old English style of architecture, and was originally a gift by the Duke of Northumberland when Lord Lieutenant, to his medical adviser, Sir Philip Crampton, who had cured him of a troublesome skin disease.

About a mile further, Upper Lough Bray will be seen some distance away on the right, but it scarcely repays the trouble of a visit, as it is not so easy of access nor so picturesque as the Lower Lough. The road continues to ascend until the summit level, 1,714 feet high, is reached, 113 feet higher than the Featherbed Pass, when cyclists may again mount their machines, riding, however, with caution, as these high mountain roads receive little or no attention, and are almost always in a loose and stony condition. We next cross the infant Liffey which rises in a patch of dark bog on the left, and after a further journey of two miles through a dreary tract of heather and bog, we reach Sally Gap where the Military and the Luggela roads intersect at an - altitude of 1,631 feet. At this desolate spot situated at the head of the Liffey valley, scarcely a trace of civilisation is visible, and until the advent of the bicycle and motor, these roads were often left untraversed by any vehicle for many months at a time. In recent years, however, they have become so well known, that on any popular holiday during fine weather, motors, cycles, and even pedestrians may be counted by dozens.

In clear weather, Sally Gap commands an extended view of the Liffey valley, along which the road may be seen trending away for miles in the distance towards the main road to Blessington. After turning to the right, the road is rough, and almost unrideable for about a mile, and a C. T. C. danger notice warns cyclists against the danger of riding, but it is quite possible, with care, and reliable brakes, to make the descent. About a mile and a quarter from Sally Gap we pass portion of a house somewhat resembling the end wall of a church, said to be the remains of a residence in connection with the Shranamuck fron Mines, which were worked here until the close of the 18th century. The name of Shranamuck is now all but lost, and the locality at the present day is known as Liffey Head. Immediately beyond this is Coronation Plantation, where the road passes through a miniature forest mostly of pines and larches, and where the visitor will do well to make a brief stay in order to observe the views of river, wood, and mountain. From one of the cottages on the road a pathway leads down to a footbridge across the river, near where there is a gamekeeper’s cottage. Behind this cottage, and on the summit of a rising ground, is a monument, bearing on its four sides the following inscription, erected by the Marquess of Downshire to commemorate the commencement and object of Coronation Plantation:-

LORDSHIP OF BLESSINGTON.

County of Wicklow.

This Plantation in the Brocky

Mountain of 500 Irish [acres]

Laid out by the

Most Honourable the Marquis of Downshire.

The fencing commenced in August, 1831.

It was called the

Coronation Planting, in honor of his Most Gracious

Majesty

King William IV.

The Most Noble the Marquis of Anglesey being

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

And for a future supply of useful

timber for the

Estate

And improvement of the

County and the

Benefit of the Labouring Classes

This planting

finished on the

—day of --- 18—

As the concluding portion has not been filled in, it is probable that the planting was not carried out to the extent originally contemplated. Situated almost midway in the woods is Kippure bridge, crossing a tributary of the Liffey called Athdown brook, which flows down the slopes of Kippure mountain; and close to the bridge is a shield-shaped iron tablet giving the distances in Irish measure of a number of places in the surrounding district. About a mile further will be seen, on opposite sides of the river, two groups of farmhouses, known as Scurlock’s Leap and Ballysmuttan, connected by a cross road and iron lattice bridge; and continuing our journey along the green banks of the Liffey, we presently reach Cloghleagh Bridge, a picturesque structure with stone balustrades, crossing the Shankill river. A stile across the adjoining wall leads down to the water’s edge, from which there is a pretty view of the bridge and the well-wooded banks adjoining. Not far from the bridge is a small but pretty church with a tower enveloped in ivy. At the Glen of Wibride we enter a wood where the road forks, the road on the left leading to The Lamb, and that on the right to Brittas, from either of which the journey home lies along the well-known Blessington Steam Tram road.

Distances from G. P. 0. by routes described: - Glencree, 12½ miles; Enniskerry, 18½; Bray bridge, 21; G.P.O., 31.

Alternative route:- G.P.O. to Lough Bray, 13½ miles; Sally Gap, 17; Coronation Plantation (Kippure), 21; Brittas, 27½; G.P.O., 41.

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