Terence Reeves-Smyth visits the castle and gardens of Glenveagh in County Donegal and charts the history of this romantic hideaway
Deep in the heart of the Donegal highlands, nestling theatrically on a headland by the tranquil waters of Lough Veagh or Beagh (Loch Ghleann Bheatha, ‘the glen of the birch’), stands a captivating mid-Victorian castle, its silhouette rising majestically above the treeline way down the lough. With bleak, rugged mountains towering above, Glenveagh is a place of remote and sublime beauty, where rocks, lake and castle seem to merge. It is a place also delightfully complemented by a remarkable twelve-acre garden containing a wealth of vegetation, almost tropical in its luxuriance, brimming with rare and tender plants.
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