Glenveagh National Park

170km² national park of bog, mountain and lake with a Victorian castle and wild deer

Glenveagh National Park covers 170 square kilometres of the Derryveagh Mountains in northwest Donegal — a landscape of granite peaks, deep glacial valleys, blanket bog, and dark lakes. The centrepiece is Glenveagh Castle, a Victorian mock-baronial pile built in 1873 beside Lough Veagh, with elaborate gardens that look improbably lush in this wild setting. Access to the castle and gardens is by estate bus from the visitor centre (no private vehicles on the estate road).

The park is home to a large herd of red deer, introduced by the castle's original owner, and you are likely to see them on the hillsides above the lough. Golden eagles were reintroduced in 2000 and have established a breeding population in the park. Walking is the main activity: there are trails of varying difficulty, from easy lough-side paths to ridge walks with views across the Donegal uplands. The visitor centre at the park entrance is well done, with good exhibits on the landscape, wildlife, and the controversial history of the estate.

things to do sight park wildlife
A story
The story behind the park involves one of the worst episodes of the Irish Land War. John George Adair, who built Glenveagh Castle in 1873, evicted 244 tenants from the surrounding land in 1861 to create his private deer forest — one of the largest mass evictions in 19th-century Ireland. The empty land he left behind eventually became the national park. Adair spent most of his time in Texas, where he invested in a cattle ranch, and his widow later planted the gardens that visitors see today.