Mary Byrne is cheerfully full of surprises. And the first surprise comes just a few moments into our interview. Meet me at the monastery steps , she tells the reporter. So that is where we rendezvous - on the steps under the arch beside the Glendalough Hotel.
The arch and the steps are obvious landmarks but a pace or two beyond is our first example of the unexpected. She touches a stone slab on our right and there, under her fingers, if you look closely, is a cross scratched into the stone.
In a place littered with iconic, blockbuster reminders of Ireland s Christian heritage, the crude simple cross is a more low-key piece of our history. Most of the hundreds of thousands of people who come to this famous place each year never notice it. Indeed, Mary admits that she too was unaware of its presence for decades until someone pointed it out.