What the military road was never intended to serve were Wicklow footballers trying to cross the mountains for intercounty training purposes. Either side of it lies some 20,483 hectares of the Wicklow Mountains National Park, the largest continuous upland region in the country, and with the exception of sheep and cyclists and Sika deer, among the least inhabited. All spread over a range of mountain summits, including the bulking Lugnaquilla, which at 925m is the highest mountain in Ireland outside of Kerry. This is not the sole reason why Wicklow remains the only county yet to win a Leinster football title, and it’s no more naturally mountainous than enduring football strongholds such as Kerry, Donegal, and Mayo. Mountains didn’t divide Kerry, in fact they made us stronger, and it can be the same with Wicklow.

Source: The Irish Times May 26, 2018 05:26 UTC