There was a lot of heavy cloud and strong wind, so we thought we had better opt for Glenveagh. Glenveagh is very organized for tourism, but since this is the off season, we had a great visit. There is a visitor’s centre, so we stopped there and inquired about long walks. The attendant suggested we walk to the castle, and then continue to the end of the glen, the return trip would be approximately 16 km. Also, there are shuttle buses to take visitors to the castle.
We walked the super path to the castle along the shore of Lough Veagh. The castle sits among tall trees near the shore, to get a better view we climbed up a fairly steep path to a viewpoint, overlooking the back of the castle.
As we returned to the castle grounds, a mist came up the glen, so we ditched into a picnic shelter and drank our tea. Then we walked the path to the far end of the glen where there was a really nice waterfall. The park is surrounded by the Derryveagh Mountains and is a rather idyllic place.
Very few people walk down to the far end of the glen, we only met one other person. After we returned to the castle, we walked through the Orangery and through the walled garden.
The Glenveagh Estate was owned by John George Adair, he purchased various parcels of land between 1857 and 1859. He built the Castle in 1870 - 1873 out of rough-hewn granite. The original design was a four-storey rectangular keep, the walls are 4 feet thick. The battlements, turrets and round tower add to the appeal of this Castle. There are tours of the inside of the Castle, but we are never interested in tours.
While walking back to the parking lot from the castle, we ran into the international students we met yesterday at the Fanad Lighthouse. We all laughed hysterically when we met on the path. They opted out of hiking Mount Errigal as the conditions were not favourable. After chatting to them for a short time, we carried on.
We had been eyeing the Mad Hatter Tea Room near our home base, so we finally stopped in our way back to our cottage. What a fantastic place it turned out to be. The young male staff member was so friendly and helpful, he gave us a huge Donegal brochure and named off a lot of things to see, we had seen most of them.
This is our last night in Donegal and we simply love the place. We have never encountered better service or friendlier people anywhere. The young guy in the coffee shop said most travellers don’t get up this far north, and that is a shame, because this place is astonishingly beautiful.
Glenveagh Castle
Glenveagh
Waterfall near head of the glen
View from castle toward head of the glen
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