Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [424]
The park features nature trails along lakes, through woods and blanket bog, as well as a viewing point that’s a short walk behind the castle.
The Glenveagh Visitor Centre ( 074-913 7090; Churchill) has a 20-minute audiovisual display on the ecology of the park and the infamous Adair. The restaurant serves hot food and snacks, and the reception sells the necessary midge repellent, as vital in summer as walking boots and waterproofs are in winter. Camping is not allowed.
Glenveagh Castle
This delightfully showy castle (adult/child €3/1.50) was modelled in miniature on Scotland’s Balmoral Castle. Henry McIlhenny made it a characterful home with liberal reminders of his passion for hunting deer. In fact you’ll be hard pressed to find a single room without a representation – or taxidermied remains – of a stag.
An entertaining 30-minute guided tour takes in a series of flamboyantly decorated rooms that remain as if McIlhenny has just stepped out. The most eye-catching, including the tartan-and-antler-covered music room and the pink candy-striped room demanded by Greta Garbo whenever she stayed here, are in the round tower.
The exotic gardens are similarly spectacular, boasting a host of terraces, an Italian garden, a walled kitchen garden, and the Belgian Walk, built by Belgian soldiers who stayed here during WWI. Their cultured charm is in marked contrast to the wildly beautiful landscape that enfolds the area.
The last guided tours of the castle leave about 45 minutes before closing time. Minibuses (adult/child return €2/1) shuttle between the visitor centre and the castle roughly every 15 minutes; the journey takes a mere five or so minutes; alternatively it’s a scenic 3.6km walk.
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DOON WELL & ROCK OF DOON
In centuries past, wells were commonly believed to cure afflictions. Judging by the shimmering rosaries, multicoloured rags and trinkets bejewelling nearby bushes, many still believe this to be true of the cupboard-like Doon Well (Tobar an Duin).
A sign points to the overgrown Rock of Doon (Carraig an Duin), which has some far-reachingviews. This is where the O’Donnell kings were crowned – presumably so they could get a squiz at what they were inheriting.
Take the signposted turn-off from the N56 just north of Kilmacrennan. The well and rock are about 1.5km north of the village.
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LIFFORD
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It’s hard to believe that dwindling little Lifford (Leifear), on the border of County Tyrone, is still Donegal’s county town. While its powerful judicial past is long gone, its spirit lingers in the daunting 18th-century Old Courthouse ( 074-914 1733; www.liffordoldcourthouse.com; adult/concession €6/3; 10am-5pm Mon-Fri Jun-Aug, 10am-3pm Mon-Fri Sep-May, last tour 1hr prior to closing). The courthouse is home to an excellent heritage centre with creepily lifelike recreations that use actors’ faces projected onto waxworks. In this manner, Manus O’Donnell tells the story of Donegal’s Gaelic chieftains and several bona-fide trials are re-enacted in the austere courtroom (including that of Napper Tandy, John ‘half-hanged’ McNaughten and the Lord Leitrim murder). A guard will take you down to the prison cells, accompanied by sounds of banging doors and ominous footsteps, to be locked up for sheep-stealing or the like.
There are no stand-out places to stay or to dine, but it’s a mere hop over the bridge to Strabane in County Tyrone, and within easy striking distance of Letterkenny.
Getting There & Away
Bus Éireann’s ( 074-912 1309) express service 32 from Dublin (€17.60, 3¼ hours) to Letterkenny (€7.40, 20 minutes) stops in Lifford up to five times daily. Buses also connect Lifford with Ballybofey (€6.40, 30 minutes)