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Garden Name: Glenveagh Castle
Last Modified: 09/02/2010
Garden ID: 0229

pic: 0229_glenveagh.jpg

Owner: National Parks & Wildlife Service
Address:
Glenveagh National Park
Churchill, Letterkenny
Co. Donegal
Postcode: 
County: Republic of Ireland

tel: 00353 74 37088
fax: 74 37072
website: www.heritageireland.ie/en/North-West/GlenveaghNationalPark/
email: info {at} dun-na-ngall.com

Features: 
Extraordinary landscape setting,
Jardin Potager, Italianate features,
Statues, pots, woodland walks, walled garden,
Gothic Orangery.

English Heritage Grade:


Opening Times:
Park & Castle; Nov - Feb; daily; 9am - 5pm; Mar - Oct; 10am - 6.30pm; last admission 5pm
Visitor facilities Easter - end Sept, Tearoom all year round.

Best Times of Year to Visit: 


To see: 


National Collection: 


National Garden Scheme days: no
Comments: 

Parties / Coaches: Yes 
Comments: 

Viewing by Appointment: no
Comments:  

House Open for Viewing: Yes
Comments: Guided Tours: Access to the Castle by guided tour only. (Videos/cameras not permitted on tour).
Max. No: 20

Admission Prices:
Gardens & Park and Castle, Adult €5; Group & Over 60s €3; Child/Student €2; Family/Season €10.00
Bus prices €3, Concession €2

Parking: Yes
Lavatories: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Shop: No
Plants for Sale: No
Lunches: Yes
Teas: Yes
Refreshments: Yes
Picnics: Yes
Dogs allowed: No
Only on Lead: Yes
Events: Yes

Other Facilities:
Parking at Visitor Center, shuttle bus to Castle & Gardens.


Designer: Jim Russell and Lanning Roper.
Description of Garden:
The centrepiece of Glenveagh National Park is the Castle and surrounding 27-acre Gardens, set above Lough Veagh encircled by high peat-blanketed mountains in the middle of the Donegal highlands. Nowhere in Ireland is the contrast so marked between the wild and rugged landscape and the carefully nurtured gardens. Starting from a long irregular lawn visitors can enjoy in all directions the encircling herbaceous plants backed by colourful shrubs and trees. Corokia cotoneaster (wire netting bush) and Cornus alba Elegantissima (variegated dogwood) are growing beside the stream.

Glenveagh, like a number of other Irish gardens with acid, peaty soils, is notable for its great variety of rhododendrons, both species and hybrids. The fine specimens of the large-leaved species Rhododendron falconeri and R. sinogrande were transplanted from the gardens at Mulroy House in about 1950. Beneath these plants R. maddenii is growing successfully. To the right of the path is Fatsia japonica (castor oil plant), which is usually seen indoors.

Since most rhododendrons and magnolias flower in late spring or early summer great care has been taken to provide Glenveagh with a range of plants that create interest throughout the season. The large palm-like leaves of Dicksonia antarctica (a tree fern), Trachycarpus fortunei (Chusan palm) and the apple-green leaves of Trochodendron aralioides, give striking examples of different foliage types.

Statues, urns and other sculptural works are a feature of Glenveagh. Some are used as part of very formal elements in the garden, others in less formal settings as in the Pleasure Gardens. Many items are Italian, but the statues here are from Bali. Plants in this area include Eucryphia glutinosa, Pseudopanax crassifolius, Acacia melanoxylon and Senecio eleagnifolium along with some small-leaved rhododendrons, R. davidsonianum, R. augustinii and R. cinnabarinum. Looking across the Pleasure Grounds you can see tall specimens of Nothofagus obliqua and N. dombeyi (southern beech) and nearby, two magnolias, M. salicifolia and M. tripetala ('umbrella tree').

This is a paradise for plantsmen and gardeners keen on seeing fine and unusual specimens. Glenveagh has so much on offer that a whole day can be spent taking in the Vistor Centre displays, extensive lakeside and mountain walks, the beautifully furnished Castle and remarkable Gardens.



History: 
A hundred years ago the site of Glenveagh Gardens was a barren, boggy hillside, sloping down to the newly built castle on the windswept shore of Lough Veagh. Much of the general layout of the gardens and some of the earlier plantings date from the ownership of Mrs. Adair. That earlier work laid the basis, and more specifically provided valued shelter, for more recent plantings. 

The transformation of Glenveagh into one of Ireland's foremost gardens, with a rich variety of rare, delicate and beautiful plants laid out in an artistic manner, is the work of the late Henry McIlhenny. He owned Glenveagh for over 40 years from 1937, and the gardens received a great deal of personal attention from him every year until 1983. His own artistic sense and knowledge of plants were augmented by the expert advice, successively, of Jim Russell and Lanning Roper. 

Their plans were carried out by the dedicated staff of the Glenveagh estate, particularly Matt Armour who came here in 1930, and served as head gardener throughout Mr. McIlhenny's years, until he retired officially in 1983. In 1984 the Office of Public Works assumed responsibility for the Castle and gardens, and opened them to the public.

Local Inns: 


Accomodation: 


Restaurants: 


Village/Town/Sightseeing: 
Letterkenny
Ramelton
Milford