We have added some useful links below for your convenience to make booking your trip in Donegal as relaxed as possible.

Donegal Sunset

Some links you may find helpful

If you are interested in hill walking, check out this site www.northwestwalkingguides.com

Glenveagh National Park

For an exciting day out Glenveagh National Park is only a short drive away.  The park lies along the Derryveagh mountains in the northwest of County Donegal.  These 16,958 hectares of mountain, bogs, lakes and woods is cut in two by the spectacular valley of Glenveagh which gives the Park its name.  The Park includes the peaks of the two highest mountains in Donegal, Errigal and Slieve Snacht as well as many other fine hills, notably Dooish and Leahanmore.  Towards the southwest end of the Park are the ice-carved cliffs of the Poisoned Glen and Bingorm, while the northeast end has a gentler array of hills, deep peat bogs and the swampy valley of the Owencarrow river.

Lakes range in size from little hillside lochans to the majestic Lough Veagh, surrounded by the scattered remains of a forest which once covered much of Donegal.  The ancient name Derryveagh means forest of 'oak and birch' and today these remain as the most important species in the woods.

The magic of Glenveagh derives from the fact that here is one of the last places in Ireland to be influenced by man.  The aim of the National Park is to conserve this wilderness in such a way that people may visit and appreciate it and yet leave it unspoilt for the generations to come.

HISTORY

To this day, Glenveagh remains a remote valley, and in olden times was probably uninhabited.  However, over the hills at Gartan there were settlements and many of the remains are still to be seen.  An ancient ecclesiastical site near Lough Akibbon is traditionally held to be the birthplace of St Columkille, born in 521.

The estate of Glenveagh was created in 1857-9 by the purchase of several smaller holdings by John George Adair from Co. Laois.  Adair incurred infamy throughout Donegal and Ireland by evicting some 244 tenants in the cold April of 1861.  Most of the evictions took place at the edge of the estate, along the shore of Lough Gartan.  Many of the dispossessed made their way to Australia while others found refuge with relatives or were forced into the Workhouse.
 
Adair built Glenveagh Castle about 1870, but died in 1885.  His wife survived until 1921 and, unlike her husband, is remembered as a kind and generous person.  The Castle was occupied by the IRA in 1922 but they evacuated it when the Free State Army approached.  The building then served as an Army garrison for three years, after which the glen returned to its tranquil ways.
 
Following the death of Mrs Adair in 1921, Glenveagh fell into decline until its purchase in 1929 by Professor Arthur Kingsley Porter of Harvard.  His stay was short, as he disappeared mysteriously from Inishbofin Island in 1933.  The last private owner was Mr Henry McIlhenny of Philadelphia, USA, who bought the estate in 1937.

In 1975, the lands of Glenveagh were purchased by the State and, in 1981, Mr McIlhenny presented Glenveagh Castle and Gardens to the Irish nation, thereby adding greatly to the amenities of the National Park. Further land acquisitions have since been made to conserve areas of special natural value.

Avalon Guest House, Glen Road, Glenties, County Donegal.
Tel/Fax: ( +353 (0)74 9551292   -   Contact

Interesting Links
  
 Glenties County Donegal - www.glenties.ie 
Nairn & Portnoo Golf Club - www.narinportnoogolfclub.ie
MacGill Summer School - www.macgillsummerschool.com 
Donegal Angling Holidays - www.donegalanglingholidays.com
Dolmen Centre - www.dolmancentre.ie
Donegal Airport - www.donegalairport.ie
Aer Arann - www.aerarann.com
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