page_title: Glendalough
section_title: Rock climbing
hierarchical_section_title: Glendalough / Recreation / Rock climbing
caption_attribution_description: English: Marked topo of the main routes on Main Face in the Twin Buttress area of Glendalough in Ireland
context_page_description: Glendalough is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. From 1825 to 1957, the head of the Glendalough Valley was the site of a galena lead mine. Glendalough is also a recreational area for picnics, for walking along networks of maintained trails of varying difficulty, and also for rock-climbing.
context_section_description: Glendalough's south-facing granite cliffs, situated on slopes of Camaderry above the north-western end of the valley (just above the Miner's Village), have been a rock-climbing location since 1948.  The north-facing cliffs on the other side of the upper lake are not considered suitable for rock-climbing.
  The 2009 Mountaineering Ireland climbing guidebook for Wicklow, as well as the online guidebooks for Glendalough, list about 144 routes at all grades up to E5 6b (Bathsheba and The Wake); the cliffs are particularly noted for their long, and multi-pitch, VS/HVS routes.
  The climbs vary between one and four pitches, and up to over 100 metres in length. There are several sectors:
  Twin Buttress, lying at the far western end of the cliffs overlooking the Miner's Village, is a large buttress divided by a seasonal waterfall (which itself is often split into two streams), with the most popular climbs split over West Buttress, Expectancy Slab and Main Face.
  The Upper Cliffs, a band of cliffs high up on the hillside east of Twin Buttress.
  Acorn Buttress, a small buttress just below Twin Buttress, which is a popular base-camp location.
  Hobnail Buttress, a small buttress with some easy climbing, on the hillside one kilometre to the east.
  The Irish Mountaineering Club has operated a climbing hut since the 1950s.
  Below the crag is an extensive boulder field which is also used for bouldering activities.
caption: Marked climbs on the Main Face
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