Glenveagh Castle

Glenveagh Castle (Irish: Caisleán Ghleann Bheatha) is a large castellated mansion located in Glenveagh National Park, County Donegal, Ireland and was built in about 1870.

Captain John George Adair built Glenveagh Castle between 1867 and 1873. It stands within the boundaries of Glenveagh National Park, near both Churchill and Gweedore in County Donegal, Ireland. It is built in the Scottish baronial architectural style and consists of a four-story rectangular keep, surrounded by a garden, and a backdrop of some 165.4 km2 (40,873 acres) of mountains, lakes, glens and woods complete with a herd of red deer. The Irish Gleann Bheatha (Bheithe) translates into English as "Glen of the Birch Trees". The visitor centre has displays that explain the park as well as an audio-visual show and is accessible for patrons with disabilities.

The castle was built by Captain John George Adair (1823-1885), a native of County Laois, and a member of the minor gentry. Adair had made his fortune by chancy land speculation in the United States, and he returned to Ireland and bought up vast tracts of land in Donegal. Adair had married in 1869, Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie, a daughter of James S. Wadsworth, a Union general in the American Civil War. Together they set about the creation of the gardens and castle. Adair's ambition was to create an estate and castle that surpassed Balmoral, Queen Victoria's Scottish retreat. John Adair is remembered with scant affection in Donegal.

On the heels of the Great Famine and emigration on a par with the Highland Clearances, John Adair evicted 224 tenants from their blackhouses on his land. This was not for financial gain, but merely to improve the aesthetic aspect from the castle. These tenant clearances are known as the "Derryveagh Evictions". The name of John George Adair as a Donegal landlord has passed into history and folklore, ballad and documentary. All have one thing in common – Adair was notoriously cruel. He purchased Glenveagh and Gartan in 1859 making an estate of 28,000 acres (110 km2).

His troubles with the tenants began almost immediately. A row between them and Adair over shooting rights and trespassing sheep culminated in the murder of his Scottish steward James Murrog. Consequently, Adair carried out his threat to evict the tenancy.

Text adapted from “Glenveagh Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Glenveagh Castle ranks #2,803 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #38 of the 173 mapped in Ireland. Founded 1869, it is older than 6% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 607 atlas entries founded in the 19th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,530 times in the last 60 days, more than 72% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Derry, 40 km away. See how Ireland compares in the castle statistics.

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