During our photography tour of Ireland my wife and I visited Glenveagh Castle which is situated in Glenveagh National Park. Unfortunately our timing was such that we were not able to do the interior tour of the caste. This article shares a number of exterior views of the castle as well as some images of the gardens.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.

The Glenveagh estate was created between 1857-1859 through the purchase of several smaller land holdings by John George Adair. He became infamous by ruthlessly evicting 244 tenants during the Derryveagh Evictions.

The construction of Glenveagh Castle began in 1867 and was completed in 1873.

John George Adair died suddenly in 1885 after returning from a business trip to North America. His wife, Cornelia, took over running the estate.

She directed major improvement to the estate including laying out the gardens.

Over the next 30 years Cornelia became a society hostess of note and she continued to summer at the castle until 1916.

After her death in 1921, Glenveagh fell into decline. During the Irish civil war it was occupied by both the Anti-treaty and Free State Arm forces.

In 1929 the estate was purchased by Professor Arthur Kingsley Porter of Harvard University.

He came to Ireland to study its archaeology and culture.

During this period Irish literary and artistic figures were entertained at the estate. AE Russel was a close friend of the Kingsley Porters. His paintings still hang in the library of the castle.

In 1933 Arthur Kingsley Porter disappeared mysteriously while visiting Inishbofin Island.

The last private owner of Glenveagh Castle was Henry McIlhenny of Philadelphia. He bought the estate in 1937 and travelled back and forth between Ireland the the United States.

During this period McIlhenney spent time restoring the castle and developing its gardens.

The travel to and from Ireland and the upkeep of the estate eventually became too onerous for Henry McIlhenney. In 1975 he sold the estate to the Office of Public Works. This allowed for the creation of a National Park.

In 1983 McIlhenney bestowed the castle, much of its contents, along with its gardens, to Ireland. The Glenveagh National Park opened to the public in 1984.

The Glenveagh Castle opened to the public two years later in 1986. If you visit the Donegal County area of Ireland a trip to the Glenveagh Castle and National Park is certainly worth considering.

Technical Note:
Photographs were captured hand-held using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. All images were produced from RAW files using my standard process.

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