Glenveagh National Park

Glenveagh fills a long glacial valley in the Derryveagh Mountains, with Lough Veagh on its floor and a Victorian castle set on a spur above the water. It is the second largest national park in Ireland and most of it is bog, heath and bare rock rather than woodland, though oak and birch survive on the slopes. Red deer graze the higher ground in a herd that has been managed here for over a century. Golden eagles were reintroduced to the glen in the early 2000s, but a sighting is a matter of luck. From the visitor centre a shuttle runs the few kilometres to the castle, or you walk the lakeside road.

History

Captain John George Adair built Glenveagh Castle and founded the estate, and during the 1861 famine, after disputes with his tenants over hunting rights and trespassing sheep, he evicted 44 families. The estate passed to his wife Cornelia, then to Arthur Kingsley Porter in 1929 and Henry Plumer McIlhenny in 1937, who left it to the Irish state in the 1970s (Wikipedia, Glenveagh).

What's there

• Glenveagh Castle - the 1870s house above the lake, shown on guided tours.
• The castle gardens - sheltered terraces with planting that should not survive this latitude.
• Lough Veagh - the long lake filling the floor of the glacial valley.
• Red deer - the managed herd on the open hill above the woodland.

When to go

May and June bring rhododendron colour and long light in the gardens, and the autumn rut draws people to the upper glen. The park is open all year and free to enter; the castle is by guided tour with limited places. Midges are bad on still days from June onward, and this valley catches a great deal of rain.

Practical notes

The castle sits four kilometres from the visitor centre and the walk in and out eats an hour each way if you miss the shuttle. Tours of the house are short and timed, and the interiors interest people less than the setting does. Rain is constant here, the deer are usually distant specks, and eagle sightings are rare enough that you should not plan around them.

Nearby

Errigal and the Poisoned Glen are a short drive west; Letterkenny is east.

Key facts