One of my favourite locations in Ireland’s wild northwest: Glenveagh Castle in County Donegal, a grand 19th-century home in stately natural surroundings. Glenveagh was created 150 years ago by Captain John Adair, an Irishman who made his fortune on land speculation in America. Back in Ireland he was determined to create a home that outshone Queen Victoria’s Balmoral.
You can explore inside Glenveagh Castle – which has been kept with all its original furnishings, showing the comfortable lifestyle of the series of wealthy owners. The castle hosted many celebrity guests over the years, including Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne.
It was later gifted to the people of Ireland. The formal and well-manicured gardens are free to visit all through the year, and offer splendid views of Lough Veagh. The castle is now the heart of Ireland’s northernmost national park, and provides a base for hikes through biodiverse landscapes.
I took a walk with Clare Bromley, the head guide, and head of education and learning for Ireland’s National Parks and Wildlife Service.
“People have always played a part here,” she says. “There’s a lovely rich social and cultural history here with the castle and gardens, but the contrast to that is the spectacular, wild landscape.”
Nature has been generous to County Donegal – especially along the coast, with the Atlantic a constant companion. To learn about the communities that have taken root here, and to take a journey through the past, follow the signs for Glencolmcille Folk Village. Perched on a hillside above Glen Bay beach, it comprises a cluster of thatched cottages, known as a clachan. Each cottage depicts a different aspect of daily life through the centuries: how the people of northwest Ireland lived, worked, cooked, slept and stayed warm, with peat fires.
Despite the hardships of daily life, they developed rich cultural traditions. This excellent social enterprise is also known as Father McDyer’s Folk Village Museum, after the priest who came up with the concept – and led the community effort building and furnishing the first three cottages in just three months in 1967.
The manager, Margaret Rose Cunningham, says: “A lot of people connect with their ancestors when they come here. It doesn’t matter where they’re from: everyone started off in a hands-on way.” Time to take to the water on a trip I’ve been wanting to do for as long as I can remember: to Sliabh Liag Cliffs. The voyage with Paddy Byrne begins at…
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