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GREENAN

CO. WICKLOW · IE

Greenan
An Grianán, Co. Wicklow

The Ireland's Ancient East
STOP 07 / 07

An Grianán · Co. Wicklow

A scattered farming settlement on the Avonbeg where the road forks for Glenmalure, with one genuine reason to stop: a working farm of three small museums and two mazes.

Greenan is not a village so much as a name on a fork in the road. An Grianan - 'the summerhouse' - is a scattered farming townland on the Avonbeg River, about two miles west-southwest of Rathdrum, in the wooded hill country where the road from the Vale of Avoca splits off toward Glenmalure. There is a primary school, Greenans Cross National School, a few houses, the river, and the bridge. Old signs still spell it Greenane; the place has been written down under that name since 1668.

What pulls visitors off the road is Greenan Farm Museums and Maze, a working hill farm about ten minutes west of Rathdrum that has turned itself into a genuine half-day out. There are two mazes - a Celtic maze of locally grown beech, replanted in 2022 with around fifteen hundred trees, and a flat Solstice maze of standing stones - and three small museums. Add woodland walks, a fairy-tree trail, farm animals to feed, a craft shop and a cafe, and you have the rare rural attraction that earns the drive rather than padding it.

Beyond the farm gate, Greenan is a marker rather than a destination. This is the threshold of Glenmalure, the long glacial valley that sheltered the O'Byrne clan for centuries and where Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne broke an English army in 1580. The same terrain hid the 1798 rebels a generation later. You stop at Greenan, then you keep going - up the glen, or south to the Meeting of the Waters, or back to Rathdrum for a bed and a dinner.

Population

Under 100 (rural townland; Ballinderry electoral division 248 in Census 2022)

Founded

Recorded as Greenane from 1668

Coords

52.9250° N, 6.2950° W

01 / 07

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 Greenan Maze

Three farm museums and two mazes on a working Wicklow hill farm.

A Celtic beech maze, a stone Solstice maze, and three museums - a restored 18th-century farmhouse, a barn of farm tools, and a bottle collection. Plus animals, woodland trails, a cafe, and shepherd's huts to sleep in. The reason most people who come to Greenan came.

Stories & lore → 02 The Avonbeg

On the river, at the road fork for Glenmalure.

Greenan sits on the Avonbeg River with a bridge that carries the road two ways - up into Glenmalure, the deepest glaciated valley in the country, and south toward the Meeting of the Waters near Avoca.

Walks & outings → 03 1798 cover

A rebel safe-house in the Wicklow mountain country.

The Old Farmhouse at the maze was, by local tradition, a safe house for rebels in the years after the 1798 rising - the same mountain network that kept Michael Dwyer alive. Pikes and period weapons are part of the display.

Stories & lore →

02 / 07

Where to sleep.

Place	Type	Local note
Greenan Maze shepherd's huts	Glamping huts on the farm	The farm offers a small number of shepherd's huts to stay in (River, Hill and Tree variants), with a sauna on site. A novel base right at the mouth of Glenmalure. Limited availability and seasonal - book through greenanmaze.com. For a conventional hotel or B&B, Rathdrum is ten minutes east.

03 / 07

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

A working farm that kept its own history

Greenan Farm Museums and Maze

The attraction is built around a farm and its three small museums. The Old Farmhouse is a restored 18th-century dwelling, furnished as it would have been, and by local tradition a safe house for Irish rebels in the disturbed years around and after 1798 - pikes and period weapons are part of what is on display. The Barn Museum is a two-storey barn of horse-drawn machines, carts and traps, and the tools of the blacksmith, cartwright, thatcher and cooper. The Bottle Museum holds a collection of 19th and early 20th-century Irish bottles, jars and pots gathered since the 1980s. Outside there are two mazes - a Celtic beech maze (replanted with roughly 1,500 trees in 2022, with a pond and viewing platform at the centre) and a Solstice maze of standing stones - plus woodland nature trails, a fairy-tree trail, farm animals, a craft shop and a cafe. Open roughly April to autumn; check current hours before driving down.

The O'Byrne valley, and the rebels after

The mouth of Glenmalure

Greenan stands at the lower end of Glenmalure, the deep V-shaped glacial valley that runs northwest into the high Wicklow Mountains along the Avonbeg River. Glenmalure was the stronghold of the Gabhal Raghnaill branch of the O'Byrne clan, based at Ballinacor. On 25 August 1580, during the Desmond Rebellions, a combined Irish force under Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne and James Eustace destroyed an English army led by Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton, at the Battle of Glenmalure. Two centuries later the same mountain country gave cover to the United Irishmen after the 1798 rising collapsed elsewhere - the network of caves, dugouts and safe houses that kept the rebel captain Michael Dwyer at large until 1803. Greenan sits at the door of that landscape.

04 / 07

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

Greenan Maze woodland and trails The farm itself is the main walking on offer here: the two mazes, the wild nature walks through the woodland, the fairy-tree trail, and the farm-animal paddocks. Easy ground, good for families. Entry ticketed and seasonal - check greenanmaze.com before arriving.

Various short loopsdistance

2-3 hours for the full visittime

Into Glenmalure Follow the road northwest from Greenan up the Avonbeg into Glenmalure. The valley floor carries forest tracks and the start of mountain routes up toward Lugnaquilla, the highest peak in Leinster. Serious hill walking needs proper gear and weather sense; the lower valley road is a fine drive and short stroll on its own.

Drive in, then walkdistance

Half a daytime

Avonbeg toward the Meeting of the Waters The Avonbeg flows south from Greenan past Ballinaclash to join the Avonmore at the Meeting of the Waters near Avoca - the confluence Thomas Moore made famous in 1807. Quieter than Glendalough. No single waymarked riverside path the whole way; follow lanes and the river south.

Approximately 5 km one way to Avoca directiondistance

1.5 hours one waytime

05 / 07

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The farm and maze open for the season around April, the beech maze comes into leaf, and the lower glen is green and quiet before the summer traffic.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Peak season for the farm: animals, mazes and cafe all running, and the best months for walking up into Glenmalure. The wider Avoca and Glendalough area fills from Dublin on weekends.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

The Avonbeg valley turns colour and the crowds thin. Check the maze season has not closed for the year before driving down.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

The farm attraction is closed out of season and the glen can be raw and wet. Fine to pass through on the way to Glenmalure; not a destination in itself in January.

◐ Mind yourself

06 / 07

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Expecting a village with pubs and shops

Greenan is a scattered rural townland - a school, a few houses, a bridge. There is no village pub or restaurant. For food, drink and a bed go to Rathdrum, ten minutes east.

Turning up at the maze out of season or unchecked

Greenan Farm Museums and Maze is seasonal, roughly April to autumn, with set days and hours. It is the one real reason to stop, so confirm it is open at greenanmaze.com before you commit the drive.

Treating Glenmalure as a casual stroll

The lower valley is an easy drive and walk, but the high routes up toward Lugnaquilla are real mountain walking with real weather. Do not start up the glen in trainers expecting a stroll.

Getting there.

By car

Greenan is about ten minutes (roughly 6 km) west of Rathdrum on local roads, signposted for the maze and for Glenmalure. From Dublin, allow around 1 hour 15 minutes via the N11/M11 to Rathdrum, then west.

By train

The nearest station is Rathdrum, on the Dublin Connolly to Rosslare Europort line, about ten minutes east by car. There is no public transport into Greenan itself; you need a car or taxi from Rathdrum.