To celebrate National Heritage Week, why not join us for a guided walk titled ‘A Journey to 1870’s Lacken’
Responding to this year’s theme of ‘Heritage and Education: Learning from our Heritage’, Wicklow Uplands Council in partnership with Lacken Community Development, have created a programme that explores some of the rich and diverse heritage found in the locality of the west Wicklow village of Lacken.
Sitting on the slopes of the Wicklow Mountains along the picturesque Lake Drive, Lacken’s hillsides demonstrate evidence of early settlers, with examples of megalithic tombs, bullaun stones and caves. More recent 19th century hillside features include dry stones walls, lazy beds and the recently rejuvenated mass path.
Built structures made from the locally-mined Wicklow granite are abundant, with the local church, school house, bridges and an historic graveyard standing as strong as the day they were constructed.
Lacken witnessed dramatic changes to its landscape and to the community itself, as the valley was flooded to create the Poulaphouca Reservoir, also known as the Blessington Lakes, in the late 1930’s. This ambitious joint project between the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) and Dublin City Council to supply Dublin’s rapidly growing population with fresh water and electricity, resulted in the loss of 5,500 areas and the creation of Ireland’s largest man-made lake.