Economic Value of Ireland's Historic Environment - The Heritage ...

9 Glenveagh Castle
9.1 The Asset
Glenveagh Castle is located in Glenveagh National Park in Northwest County Donegal, one of six
national parks in Ireland. The park covers some 170 sq.
km of upland bogland, lakes and woodlands within the
Derryveagh mountain range, and is the second largest
national park in the country. The park‟s modern history
dates to the late 1860s when the existing landlord
evicted several hundred tenants and cleared the land
for his own private use, although it only came into State
ownership in 1975 when it was purchased by the Office
of Public Works from the then owner Mr. Henry McIlhenny, an American businessman who had acquired
the property in 1937, and whose Grandfather grew up in nearby Milford.
The building is a castellated mansion, built between 1867 and 1873,
designed by John Townsend Trench, a cousin of its builder and first
owner. It comprises a four storey rectangular keep surrounded by a
garden that follows a Neo-gothic architectural style with ramparts,
turrets and a round tower. As well as the castle itself, the park
features a visitors‟ centre including interpretative and exhibition
space, a restaurant and customer facilities, an elaborate garden
that incorporates a vast range of indigenous and non-indigenous
flora, and guided and non-guided access to vast distances of mountainous walks and trails. The open
areas of the park are particularly noted for their wildlife, which includes the largest herd of red deer in
Ireland, bird species that include meadow pipit, stonechats, grouse, ravens, siskins, tree-creepers,
redstarts, wood warblers, peregrines and merlins, and other wild native species such as badgers, foxes,
the Irish Hare and stoats. In addition, the Golden Eagle was reintroduced to the park in 2000.
9.2 Management and Activities
The National Park and castle are owned by the State, and are under the management of the National
Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). Under the responsibility of the NPWS regional manager, the Park
employs a Park Manager and staff engaged in areas such as visitor services, estate management,
gardening, general operations and administration. A tea room at the castle and a restaurant at the Visitor
Centre are run by an external organisation under a franchise arrangement. The facilities are open all year
round (with some days closed over the Christmas and New Year holiday), although the restaurant is open
only during the peak summer months. The most significant major capital development at the park in its
recent history was the construction of the interpretative visitor centre in the early 1980s, although the
facilities are continually maintained and enhanced where possible by NPWS (e.g. through the setting of
new trails, infrastructure enhancements etc). The NPWS engages in some direct marketing and
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