VALE OF AVOCA
From Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland (1900)
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Description of County Wicklow | Vale of Avoca | Glendalough | Bray Esplanade | Powerscourt Castle | Avondall | Wicklow Map
VALE OF AVOCA.—This spot, immortalized in the exquisite lyric of Thomas Moore, presents a combination of scenic beauty unsurpassed in one of the most picturesque localities in Ireland. It is a scene of softness and tranquillity rather than of sublimity or grandeur, of repose and peace rather than of wildness and elevating inspiration. "The Meeting of the Waters" is formed by the junction of the rivers Avonmore and Avonbeg—the great and little rivers—and under the name of the Avoca the beautiful stream pursues its course through the vale to Arklow, some eight miles distant, and thence to the sea. "After all," writes a traveler, expressing the regret that every tourist feels, after enjoying this enchanting view of nature, "the greatest fault of the Vale of Avoca is that it is so short. How gladly would the eye feast on more of those beautiful meadows, those bold crags, those ivy-mantled oaks!" The serene beauty of the place has been somewhat marred by the introduction of the railway, and the operations of commerce.
Vale of Avoca
Description of County Wicklow | Vale of Avoca | Glendalough | Bray Esplanade | Powerscourt Castle | Avondall | Wicklow Map