St Kevin's Church, Hollywood

Hollywood's Irish name, Cillín Chaoimhín—“little church of Kevin”—has outlasted the building's active use. The present structure dates to around 1680, on ground documented by a 13th-century ecclesiastical charter; five medieval grave slabs remain visible in the churchyard.

Although regular worship ended, the church still marks a beginning. Pilgrims gather here for the 30km walk across the Wicklow Mountains to Glendalough, the monastic city St Kevin founded in the 6th century. Local legend says Kevin blessed the surrounding wood and that a nearby valley still holds his cave, bed, and chair. The church remains the last consecrated ground before the mountains begin.

Two separate St Kevin-dedicated churches stand in Hollywood village: the disused c.1680 Church of Ireland structure on the older ecclesiastical site, and a separate active 1830 Catholic church in Hollywood Upper.

This content treats the former as primary, since it is the site with the documented medieval grave slabs and the 13th-century charter reference, and the traditional blessing point for departing pilgrims — while noting the Catholic church as a related, currently active site of the same dedication in the same village.

What is not established is how continuous the pilgrimage tradition actually was between the medieval period and its 20th/21st-century revival as a marked trail; the intervening centuries are not documented in available sources, and this content does not claim an unbroken line where none is confirmed.

A medieval ecclesiastical waypoint gathering pilgrims traveling from the midlands before their crossing of the Wicklow Mountains to venerate St Kevin's relics at Glendalough.

Earliest documented reference comes from a 13th-century charter; the present Church of Ireland structure was built around 1680, and a separate Catholic church was built in Hollywood Upper around 1830. The Church of Ireland building is now disused for regular worship but remains the customary departure point and blessing site for modern pilgrims.

Visiting the church itself is a brief matter — the exterior, the graveyard, and its five medieval grave slabs can be taken in well under an hour, since the interior is not routinely open to the public. What gives the visit its weight is what it precedes: walkers describe a sense of purposeful beginning here, a quiet contact with the medieval pilgrimage before the physical demands of the mountain crossing set in.

Journalists and hikers alike (an Irish Times account from 2025 is cited in research) frame completing the full walk from Hollywood to Glendalough as a deliberate pause from modern life and a chance to retrace, on foot, a journey roughly 1,400 years old.

Start at the churchyard in Hollywood village; dress for mountain weather ahead of the exposed crossing at Wicklow Gap.

Local legend holds that St Kevin blessed the wood that gave Hollywood its name ('Holy Wood', Latin Bosco Sancto), pronouncing that anyone who burned green or dry wood from it before Judgment Day would suffer 'hell and a short life.' Tradition also places St Kevin's Cave, St Kevin's Bed, and St Kevin's Chair in a valley near the village, associated with the saint's own wanderings before he settled at Glendalough.

Historically, the wider Glendalough pilgrimage included a Pattern Day (patron saint's day) on 3 June, discontinued in 1862 amid Church-authority concerns about rowdy secular behaviour; no evidence was found of an equivalent formal pattern-day ceremony specific to Hollywood itself.

Contemporary pilgrims and walkers gather at the church before setting out on St Kevin's Way; some report receiving an informal blessing there before departure.

Walkers can obtain the National Pilgrim Passport (Teastas Oilithreachta) and have it stamped along the route, part of the modern pilgrim-path programme coordinated by Pilgrim Paths of Ireland.

Heritage scholarship and living pilgrim tradition agree on Hollywood's role as a genuine waypoint, but differ on how much continuity connects the medieval past to the modern trail.

Continue through the atlas by country, tradition, physical form, or a focused search that combines this place’s strongest context.

Explore other sacred places in the region. Proximity does not establish access or travel time; check each place’s guidance.

Wicklow Gap

Wicklow, Ireland

14.6 km away

Glendalough

County Wicklow, Wicklow, Ireland

20.2 km away

St. Brigid's Garden Well

Kildare, Kildare, Ireland

21.5 km away

St. Brigid's Cathedral, Kildare

Kildare, Kildare, Ireland

22.2 km away

Sources consulted for this page. Source categories describe the publication, not a guarantee that every claim is verified. Traditional accounts and outside interpretations may differ.

1. 01Saint Kevin's Way — Wikipedia — Wikipedia contributorsacademicRoute length, trailheads, Wicklow Gap high point, National Pilgrim Passport inclusion (2016).
2. 02Hollywood, County Wicklow — Wikipedia — Wikipedia contributorsacademicIrish name Cillín Chaoimhín, village name derivation from Bosco Sancto/Holy Wood.
3. 03Medieval Pilgrimage at Hollywood Co. Wicklow — Pilgrimage in Medieval Ireland (research blog, academic authorship)academicThirteenth-century charter reference, Cillín Chaoimhín name, five medieval grave slabs, St Kevin's Cave/Bed/Chair sacred features near Hollywood.
4. 04Saint Kevin's Church (Hollywood), Dragoonhill, Hollywood, Wicklow — National Inventory of Architectural Heritage / Buildings of IrelandofficialOfficial heritage record: c.1680 Church of Ireland structure, architectural description, disused status, 'noteworthy' rarity assessment for 17th-century survival.
5. 05Saint Kevin's Catholic Church, Hollywood Upper, Hollywood, Wicklow — National Inventory of Architectural Heritage / Buildings of IrelandofficialOfficial heritage record: 1830 cruciform Catholic church, still in active use, architectural description.
6. 06Saint Kevin's Way Pilgrim Path - Hollywood/Valleymount to Glendalough — Wicklow County TourismofficialCounty tourism body description of route and Hollywood as primary trailhead.
7. 07St. Kevin's Way, Wicklow — Pilgrim Paths of IrelandofficialNational Pilgrim Paths coordinating body; describes Hollywood/Valleymount starts, Pilgrim Passport programme, interpretative centre at Glendalough.
8. 08St. Kevin's Way Historical Marker — Historical Marker Database (transcribing an on-site interpretive marker)officialOn-site interpretive marker text; St Kevin biography, Hollywood as likely medieval gathering point, note on modern trail restoration using old placenames.
9. 09St Kevin's Monastic Site – Glendalough — Trips.ieSource contextDescribes Hollywood village as traditional start of the 'Camino de Glendalough' and pilgrims receiving a blessing at St Kevin's Church of Ireland before departure.
10. 10St. Kevin's Church, Hollywood, Co. Wicklow — Dr Emma LyonsSource contextIndependent researcher/heritage writer blog post; corroborates medieval grave slabs and church history.