Avoca Valley
The town of Avoca from the bridge over the river
One of my favourite rides is up the N11 to Arklow (of note because it is my nearest McDonalds – though I keep it as a treat) and up to Woodenbridge and Avoca, up the Avoca Valley. It is ironic that my first countryside post is actually in Co Wicklow but I fell in love with this road in January when I was struck by the tall laurel hedges making a tunnel of the road in the lower stretches; it seemed so foreign!
Well the valley is beautiful in itself but the road goes up to Avoca, a town made famous by the TV series Ballykissangel which was filmed there (and which I never saw).
The area has been famous for copper mining in the past but tourism seems more important now. It is also the home of the Avoca weaving company which is well worth a visit. I visited several times before I bothered to look round the mill to see how cloth is made but that is well worth a half hour before you empty your wallet in the shop and (good) café.
Further along the road is the Meeting of the Waters beauty spot and it is on the way to Glendalough – usually the end of a Sunday ride – but more of that later.
The Valley looking towards Arklow from Woodenbridge
The Biking Gardener 
looks peacefull an tranquil
It is a lovely place, though busy with tourists in summer!
Heartbreakingly beautiful. I have found out my mother’s family came from a village called Coolboy in the Famine. Is that nearby?
Hello. Thanks for your comment. Yes Coolboy is a village not far from me. Here is a link to a site that shows the tenants a few years before the famine – might be useful. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlwic2/census_records/coolboy_townland_fitzwilliam_tenants.htm