Tinnehinch, the Great and Little Sugar Loaf

CHAPTER IX

Tinnehinch, the Great and Little Sugar Loaf, Kilmacanogue and Powerscourt

The district described in this chapter can be most readily visited by means of cycles, but it will be necessary to leave them at the top of the Rocky Valley while ascending the Great Sugar Loaf, and at Kilmacanogue during the ascent of the Little Sugar Loaf. We first proceed to Enniskerry by the Scalp, continuing straight ahead at the upper end of the village street, passing on the left the church, the spire of which is such a conspicuous feature in pictures of Enniskerry, and on the right, one of the entrance gates to Powerscourt Demesne.

As we turn the corner just opposite the entrance to the Dargle, we descend a very steep decline down to the bed of the Dargle River - a very dangerous descent in the old cycling days before the invention of rim brakes. At the bottom of the hill is the entrance to Powerscourt known as the Golden Gate, with its pretty lodge, and beside it, Tinnehinch Bridge over the Dargle. Near the bridge, and situated in the sheltered vale of the river, is Tinnehinch, for some time the residence of the distinguished patriot and statesman, Henry Grattan, who spent his declining years in the seclusion of this romantic retreat. Twiss in his *Tour Through Ireland *(1775), states that this house was designed and erected by the then Lord Powerscourt as an inn, and that it was for some years the leading hostelry in this district, and Arthur Young spent some days there, as stated in the quotation further on, during his tour in Ireland in 1776.

After crossing Tinnehinch Bridge we turn to the right along a road which gradually ascends through a wooded district, glimpses being obtained at intervals of the surrounding mountains through the trees. Having reached the top of this road we turn twice in succession to the left, and are now facing the Great Sugar Loaf, which looks very high and abrupt from this point of view, in consequence of being seen across the intervening valley of the Killough river. A steep descent conducts us to a bridge over that river, beyond which an equally steep ascent rises to the head of the Rocky Valley, where we turn to the right up a long ascent, properly Killough Hill, which must be walked the whole way to the top, a distance of about a mile. This ascent is commonly, but erroneously, called the Long Hill, which is at the opposite side of the Killough River valley.

As the elevation increases, the area of our view extends, and we can see to the north the Scalp and the steep sides of Glensink through which flows the Glencullen or Cookstown River; then Prince William’s Seat, the Glencree Valley, with the low hill of Knockree midway, and the Reformatory at the far end, and to the left of these Tonduff, Douce, and War Hill. Between us and Glencullen will be seen Powerscourt House standing on the summit of a rising ground, and enclosed within its extensive demesne. We at length reach the summit level of the road, at a group of cottages, 850* *feet over sea level, and here cyclists must arrange to leave their machines pending their return from the ascent. From this point the pathway can be seen the whole way to the top - an easy ascent through stunted furze and heather until the peak is reached, where the gradient becomes much steeper, and the difficulty of ascending is enhanced by the loose condition of the stones under foot.

Viewed from below, the peak presents an imposing appearance, denuded in patches by the winter rains, and rising to so sharp a point that there is no more than room for a small party of visitors there.

From the summit, 1,650* *feet high, may be seen Lugnaquillia, Roundwood and its reservoir, Croghan Kinsella Mountain on the borders of Wexford; Douce, Tonduff, Glencree Reformatory and the Military road; Wicklow Head, the Scalp, Dublin Bay, and Howth, while the country in the immediate vicinity presents the appearance of a map.

Descending the mountain, we again reach the road, and return as far as the head of the Rocky Valley, which, as its name indicates, is a defile strewn on all sides with jagged and precipitous rocks, overhanging the road in a threatening manner. On the southern side of the road will be seen a well called the Silver Springs, under the shadows of a rocky cliff, and opposite is a pretty cottage enclosed by a grove of trees. Below this point the sides of the valley become very irregular and precipitous, and small patches of reclaimed ground may be seen at intervals, with little cottages nestling among the rocks.

Continuing the descent, we reach the scattered hamlet of Kilmacanogue (pronounced *Kilmakanik), *with its church on a conspicuous eminence off the main road; and from here we may either return home at once, via Bray, or ascend the little Sugar Loaf. If the latter be decided on, cycles should be left at Kilmacanogue, and the ascent commenced by turning aside from the main road at the post office, into a lane which rises steeply between high hedges, through which occasional glimpses are seen of the valley below, and of the Great Sugar Loaf and the mountains beyond it. The lane sweeps somewhat to the left at a farmhouse beside a grove of firs, after which a wooden gate is met, from which the ascent may be made either direct up the slope of the mountain, or by following the track to the right - a somewhat longer, but easier route.

As we ascend, the little hamlet of Kilmacanogue appears to great advantage below, embosomed in its sheltering woods at the foot of the Rocky Valley; while overshadowing all, rises the Great Sugar Loaf, and beyond it the great range of mountains, of which Douce is the centre. To the northward are Killiney Bay, the Hills of Dalkey and Killiney dotted with their pretty villas, and further off, Howth, the Poolbeg and Pigeonhouse; underneath is the town of Bray, and at the foot of the hill Kilruddery House - an extensive establishment - while to the right of that is the small group of cottages called Windgate, at the summit of the long hill between Bray and Greystones. Right under the mountain is Bray Head, looking low and flat from this point of view; to the right is Greystones, with its houses scattered and detached, and then a long uninteresting sweep of flat shore extends away towards Wicklow town, beyond which rises Wicklow Head.

On reaching the top of the Little Sugar Loaf it will be observed that there are three distinct summits a couple of hundred yards apart, but when seen from the north-west or south-east it appears to have only two, and it is by this latter appearance, as a double-topped mountain, that most Dublin people recognise it.

The following extract from Arthur Young’s *Tour in Ireland *(1776-9) is of some interest, as showing the impressions of a stranger visiting the district at that period: - “Took my leave of General Cunninghame, and went through the Glen of the Downs on my way to Powerscourt. The Glen is a pass between two vast ridges of mountains covered with wood, which have a very noble effect. The vale is no wider than to admit the road, a small gurgling river almost by its side, and narrow slips of rocky and shrubby ground which pan them. In the front all escape seems denied by an immense conical mountain [the Great Sugar Loaf], which rises out of the Glen, and seems to fill it up. The scenery is of a most magnificent character. On the top of the ridge to the right Mr. La Touche has a banqueting-room. Passing from this sublime scene, the road leads through cheerful grounds all under corn, rising and falling to the eye, and then to a vale of charming verdure broken into inclosures, and bounded by two rocky mountains [the Great and Little Sugar Loaf] - distant darker mountains filling up the scene in front. This whole ride is interesting, for within a mile and a half of ‘Tinnyhinch’ (the inn to which I was directed) you come to a delicious view on the right; a small vale [the Dargle] opening to the sea, bounded by mountains, whose dark shade forms a perfect contrast to the extreme beauty and lovely verdure of the lower scene, consisting of gently swelling lawns, rising from each other, with groups of trees between, and the whole so scattered with white farms as to add every idea of ‘cheerfulness.”

After breakfasting at the Tinnehinch inn, Young drove to see Powerscourt Waterfall, and thence to the Dargle, his description of which, pitched in a high key, extends to a considerable length. Of Powerscourt he writes, that “it presently came in view from the edge of a declivity. You look full upon the house, which appears to be in the most beautiful situation in the world, on the side of a mountain, half-way between its bare top and an irriguous vale at its foot. In front, and spreading among woods on either side, is a lawn, whose surface is beautifully varied in gentle declivities, hanging to a winding river.

The celebrity of Powerscourt is almost entirely due to its Waterfall, which, although of great height, possesses but a small flow of water, except after heavy rain. It has been described by successive writers in such extravagant terms that the tourist who visits it in fine weather is apt to be much disappointed.

The Wingfields, the ancestors of the Lords Powerscourt, derive their name from the manor and castle of Wingfield in Suffolk, of which the family was possessed before the Norman Conquest. Sir John Wingfield, Lord of Letheringham, served the Black Prince in the wars in France, and afterwards wrote a history of the campaign. Coming down to the reign of Elizabeth, we find that Jacques Wingfield was appointed Master of the Ordnance and Munition in Ireland, and in 1560 was commissioned to execute martial law in the territories of the O’Byrnes and O’Tooles. Twenty years later he accompanied Lord Grey of Wilton, on his ill-starred expedition against the Wicklow tribes, which culminated in the Battle of Glenmalure, where the English troops becoming entangled in the dense forests, met with signal defeat at the hands of the Irish clansmen under Feagh MacHugh O’Byrne and FitzEustace, Earl of Baltinglass.

In 1600 Sir Richard Wingfield was appointed Marshal of Ireland by Queen Elizabeth in recognition of his services against the French at Calais; for his further services in Ulster he was granted the district of Fercullen, containing nearly the whole parish of Powerscourt, and in 1618 he was created first Baron Powerscourt.

The district of Powerscourt takes its name from the De la Poer family, who came into possession of it through a marriage with a daughter of Strongbow, and who it is believed, built a castle on the site now occupied by the present Powerscourt House. That this latter house incorporates some of the ancient structure would appear probable from the fact that some of the walls in the central portion are from eight to ten feet thick.

According to the Down Survey, Sir Richard Wingfield was granted the lands of Powerscourt, “five miles in length by four miles in breadth, in the territory of Fercullen in the county of Wicklow, by James the First, said land being mostly mountainous and stony, and with a ruinous castle.”

Pedestrians desirous of ascending either of the Sugar Loaf Mountains should take the train to Bray, walking thence to Kilmacanogue and back, a distance of seven miles for the double journey.

The distance from the G.P.O. to Kilmacanogue via the Scalp and Enniskerry is 15½ miles.

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