Wicklow Way - History

History

The concept of a long-distance trail through County Wicklow was first published by J. B. Malone (1914-1989) in a series of newspaper articles in 1966. Malone had a regular column on walking in Wicklow in the Evening Herald newspaper and had published two books – The Open Road (1950) and Walking in Wicklow (1964) – on the subject as well as contributing to the RTÉ television series Mountain and Meadow (1962). He proposed a circular route, dubbed "The Twelve Days of Wicklow", which he considered to be "a journey comparable to that along the celebrated "Pennine Way" but I would say more varied than its north British counterpart". The route consisted of twelve stages, beginning at Bohernabreena, near Tallaght, Dublin 24 and ending at Stepaside, County Dublin as follows: Bohernabreena to Baltyboys (near Valleymount), via Athdown; Baltyboys to Ballinclea (near Donard), via Hollywood; Ballinclea to Aghavannagh, via Lugnaquilla summit; a rest day at Aghavannagh; Aghavannagh to Tinahely; a circular day route beginning and ending in Tinahely, via Shillelagh; Tinahely to Avoca; Avoca to Glenmalure, via Greenan; Glenmalure to Glendalough; a rest day at Glendalough; Glendalough to Knockree; and Knockree to Stepaside.

In 1977 Malone was appointed, by John Bruton, T. D., then Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, to a committee to develop rural pathways in Ireland. This evolved into the Long Distance Walking Routes Committee (LDWRC) of Cospóir, the National Sports Council, where Malone, acting as Field Officer, set about developing a scheme for a "Wicklow Way" along the lines of what he had proposed twelve years earlier. The Government's decision to develop a series of walking routes was prompted in response to the development of the Ulster Way in Northern Ireland. Malone's original concept of a circular route returning to Dublin via West Wicklow was dropped in favour of the linear path between Marlay Park and Clonegal that exists today, mainly because the Government wanted the Wicklow Way to form part of national network of trails to cover Ireland. Issues regarding access were another reason. Nevertheless, the route remains substantially as planned in 1966. In developing the route, the LDWRC made use of many existing paths, tracks and forest roads but, having no compulsory powers to include any of these, the provision of and access to such routes was, and continues to be, achieved by agreement with local authorities and landowners.

The first section of the Way – from Marlay Park to Luggala – was opened by Jim Tunney, T. D., Minister of State for Education on 15 August 1980. The second section – from Luggala to Moyne – was opened by Michael Keating, T. D., Minister of State for Education on 27 September 1981. The final stretch as far as Clonegal was completed in 1982. The Irish name of the Wicklow Way – Slí Cualann Nua – is not a literal translation but means "New Cuala Way", a reference to the Slí Cualann, one of five ancient routes that radiated from the Hill of Tara that ran through the land of Cuala (modern-day Wicklow).

The route of the Wicklow Way has been altered on a number of occasions since opening in 1980, generally as a result of problems with erosion or difficulties with rights of way. For instance, concerns about erosion led to the Way being diverted away from Fairy Castle, the summit of Two Rock mountain. Similarly, the Way was also diverted away from the summit of Mullacor, which at 657 metres (2,156 feet) was the highest point on the Way before the trail was rerouted. In 1999, the Way was diverted away from the village of Laragh on foot of an objection by a local landowner, to the chagrin of businesses in the village dependent on the custom of walking tourists. A number of information boards and stone landmarks were erected in 2006 to mark the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Way. The state-owned forestry company Coillte has in recent years worked with a number of tourism and voluntary bodies to upgrade sections of the Way that run through its lands. Today, the Wicklow Way is managed by the Wicklow Outdoor Recreation Committee.

The Wicklow Way was the first waymarked way to be opened in Ireland. The LDWRC (now the National Trails Advisory Committee of the Irish Sports Council) went on to develop many more long distance walking routes, the intention at the time being to develop a walking route around Ireland. There are now more than forty National Waymarked Trails, comprising over 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) of trails in Ireland.