GreatRoads: Classic Wicklow - Cruagh to BlessingtonA trip into the Wicklow Mountains with Bob Montgomeryends with a seasonal warning
Leaving Rathfarnham, take the R115 from The Yellow House up to the junction with the R116, which we take leading up to the foothills of the Dublin Mountains. Having crossed a narrow bridge, turn right on to the road which runs along the northern edge of Cruagh Mountain before joining up with the R115 once more and beginning our journey across the roof of the Wicklow Mountains.
This short link road between the R115 and the R116 was the site of the Cruagh Hillclimb with its daunting Devil's Elbow corner, and of which the author has many fond memories. Along the way there are magnificent views over Dublin city, and in which its sprawling mass is very apparent.
At the point where we join the R115, swing left towards Sally Gap along what is also known as the Military Road. Sally Gap - bumpy, with few road markings and bad verges - is a road steeped in motorsport history, for this was the most famous of the special stages on the Circuit of Ireland Rally.
The event has changed considerably in the past few decades, and sadly none of the classic Circuit of Ireland stages - including Sally Gap - are any longer part of the event. However, Sally Gap, the special stage, will forever be associated with such names as Paddy Hopkirk, the late Roger Clark and Billy Coleman.
No doubt the fact that the road is so exposed to frost and ice in winter contributes to its bumpy nature, but one notes other roads in the area which appear to have been constructed to a higher standard.
Climbing through the bare mountain-scape, we soon come to the beautiful valley of Glencree which opens out on our left, towards the east with fine views towards Sugarloaf mountain (501m).
Glencree and its visitor centre are well worth a short diversion. The building of the Military Road through Wicklow began in 1800, and a barracks was built at Glencree to house the 100 or so soldiers who protected the road.
By 1850 the barracks had been abandoned, but in the aftermath of the Great Famine it was turned into a reformatory for over 300 boys. The reformatory closed in 1940, and for a while the buildings housed German and Polish war orphans brought to Ireland by the Irish Red Cross after the second World War. Since 1974 the buildings have served as the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation in Ireland. Close by is the Glencree German War Cemetery - a poignant resting place for the German airmen and sailors who met their fate on this island during the second World War.
Continuing along the Military Road, we pass Lough Bray Lower and Upper nestled deep in the rocky landscape. Nearby is the source of the river Liffey, and from here the road continues across mostly barren mountain landscape towards Sally Gap itself, marked by a crossroads where we swing to the northwest towards Blessington.
Alternatively, one can continue along the Military Road to Laragh (The Military Road - some 50 miles long - continues on to Rathdangan on the Carlow border) but the R759 is a favourite road of mine, along which we gently descend to the pretty village of Blessington.
In contrast to the road just travelled, the surface on this road is very good and one can either continue along it to Kilbride before turning for Blessington, or take the narrow road at Ballysmullen Bridge which is a shorter and perhaps more interesting road to the bridge over the Pollaphuca Reservoir which leads into Blessington.
Our journey has taken us around Kippure (757m) which is dominated by the RTÉ television transmitter. As we travel along the R759 from Sally Gap towards Kilbride, the river Liffey, already a sizeable river yet only a short distance from its source, runs along the southern edge of the road for a considerable distance.
Finally, a word of warning. This is a journey for a summer's day - don't be tempted by a "blue-sky" winter day as the R115 is frequently ice-bound and often impassable near Lough Bray, when there is no sign of ice or snow in the nearby city.