Site Name:

National Grid Reference

T 257 985   Understanding grid references

Ordnance Survey Ireland Discovery Series:

56

Location

Devil’s Glen is situated about 4 km west of Ashford on the R763 road to Glendalough.  Download location map

How do I get there?

Approximately 5 km south of Newtownmountkennedy take a branch off the N11 to the left signposted Ashford. Follow the sign posts for Ashford for 2.5km into the centre of Ashford. Turn right at the roundabout on to the R764 signposted Roundwood. After approximately 0.5km take a left on to the R763 signposted Glendalough. Continue for another 3 km the entrance to the site is on your right.

The Devil's Glen Trail(s)

• Waterfall Walk
• Seamus Heaney Walk
• Download Map - All Trails

The Devil’s Glen boasts a dramatic landscape that was fashioned at the end of the  Ice Age when the melt waters of the ice sheet created the valley. The resultant gorge affords a swift decent for the Vartry River as it makes its way from the Vartry Reservoir to nearby Ashford village. The site hosts a mixture of broad leaf and conifer forest with fine stands of beech, Spanish chestnut and ash. The steep rock face of the gorge has been colonised by various species of plant life: lichens, mosses and the polypody fern. The area is home to Sika deer, fox, otter, badger and squirrel.

The site was once part of the Glanmore estate, former ancestral home of John Millington Synge. On the northern bank of the river you can see the privately owned Tottenham Estate. Devil’s Glen is also home to Sculpture in Woodland., providing a unique outdoor gallery space for dramatic sculptures by artists from many parts of the world. A visitors guide produced by Sculpture in Woodland is available and can be obtained at the nearby equestrian centre and Coillte’s office at Newtownmountkennedy. This guide gives a description of both walks and the pieces of sculpture that the public encounters en route.

Contact Info