Page 43 - GAHS Journal Volume 9

GREYSTONES ARCHAEOLOGICAL & HISTORICAL SOCIETY JOURNAL VOLUME 9

a particular significance to that mountain. Two large rivers
beginning their journey from the base of the Sugarloaf may in
ancient times have added to its sacredness as a life-giving
1
force. Four cairns, usually the burial place of important people,
can be seen on the side of the Sugarloaf, and add to the
importance of this mountain in ancient times. There is also the
existence of at least eleven ‘cooking places’ in such a small area,
which needs explaining.

The first mountain that Chris Bonington ever climbed was the
Sugarloaf. This is what he wrote:

My grandfather retired to Mount Merrion in the 1950s and I
came over to visit him when I was 16. I thought the Sugarloaf
was such a lovely shape. I didn’t have a map – I didn’t know

1 Two important Wicklow rivers have their source from this area: the Vartry,
flowing south to Wicklow town, and the Dargle, to Bray.
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