Glenveagh Castle
Encyclopedia
Glenveagh Castle is a large castellated Mansion
house built in the Scottish Baronial style within Glenveagh National Park
, near both Churchill
and Gweedore
in County Donegal
, Ireland
. The castle was built between 1870
and 1873
and consists of a four storey rectangular keep surrounded by a garden
, and has a backdrop of some 165.4 km² (40,873 acres) of mountains, lakes, glens and woods complete with a herd of red deer
. The Visitor Centre has displays that explain the park as well as an audio-visual show and is accessible for visitors with disabilities. The gardens and castle were left to the Irish nation in 1981
by Henry Plumer McIlhenny of Philadelphia, who had purchased the estate in 1937
. Hollywood stars such as Marilyn Monroe
and Greta Garbo
stayed at the castle while McIlhenny owned it. The Irish Gleann Bheatha (Bheithe) translates into English as "Glen of the Birch Trees".
(1823
-1885
), a native of Co Leix
, and a member of the minor gentry
. Adair had made his fortune by chancy land speculation
in the United States
, and he returned to Ireland and bought up vast tracts of land in Donegal. Adair had married in 1869
, Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie
, a daughter of James S. Wadsworth
, a Union General in the American Civil War
. Together they set about the creation of the Gardens and Castle. Adair's ambition was to create an estate and castle that surpassed Balmoral
, Queen Victoria's Scottish retreat.
John Adair is remembered with scant affection in Donegal. On the heels of the Great Irish Famine and emigration on a par with the Highland Clearances
, John Adair evicted 224 tenants from their black house
s on his land. This was not for financial gain, but merely to improve the æsthetic aspect from the castle. These tenant clearances are known as the "Derryveagh Evictions". The name of John George Adair as a Donegal landlord has passed into history and folklore, ballad and documentary. All have one thing in common - Adair was notoriously cruel. He purchased Glenveagh and Gartan in 1859 making an estate of 28000 acres (113.3 km²).
His troubles with the tenants began almost immediately. A row between them and Adair over shooting rights and trespassing sheep culminated in the murder of his Scottish steward James Murrog. Consequently Adair carried out his threat to evict the tenancy.
On the 3rd April 1861, a considerable cortege of 200 police, three sub officers, the resident magistrate
and the sub-sheriff set out from Letterkenny to undertake their duties. The evictions began at Lough Barra where a widow, Mrs Hanna McAward and her six daughters and one son were the first to suffer. The work of destruction continued for three days through Magerashangan, Staghall, Claggan, Ardator and Castletown among other townlands. In all, 44 families were evicted making a total of 244 persons.
Many of the evicted went to the work house
in Letterkenny, others were helped by locals and the clergy also raised money. In Australia, the Donegal Relief Fund was revitalised and arrangements were made to help the young people aged between 16 and 28 years to emigrate. Many took advantage of the scheme. As they settled in Sydney the strong oral tradition
ensured that the descendents remembered their families bitter memories.
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
house built in the Scottish Baronial style within Glenveagh National Park
Glenveagh
Glenveagh — covering 170 square kilometres of hillside above Glenveagh Castle on the shore of Lough Veagh , some 20 km from Gweedore in County Donegal, Ireland — forms the heart of the Glenveagh National Park , the second largest national park in Ireland...
, near both Churchill
Churchill, County Donegal
Church Hill, historically known as Minalaban , is a small village located 8 miles from County Donegal's largest town of Letterkenny, Ireland. The village's name is derived from its location on a small hilltop....
and Gweedore
Gweedore
Gweedore is an Irish-speaking district located on the Atlantic coast of County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in Ireland. Gweedore stretches some 16 miles from Meenaclady in the north to Crolly in the south and around 9 miles from Dunlewey in the east to Magheraclogher in the west, and...
in County Donegal
County Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The castle was built between 1870
1870 in Ireland
-Events:* 19 May — The Home Government Association is established by Isaac Butt to argue for devolution for Ireland and repeal of the Act of Union.*The building of Belfast Castle is completed, to a design by Charles Lanyon and his son....
and 1873
1873 in Ireland
-Events:*February - Home Rule Confederation of Great Britain founded at Manchester.*March - Gladstone's University Bill defeated.-Sport:* October - Foundation of County Carlow Football Club, Rugby Union Club-January to June:...
and consists of a four storey rectangular keep surrounded by a garden
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
, and has a backdrop of some 165.4 km² (40,873 acres) of mountains, lakes, glens and woods complete with a herd of red deer
Red Deer
The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...
. The Visitor Centre has displays that explain the park as well as an audio-visual show and is accessible for visitors with disabilities. The gardens and castle were left to the Irish nation in 1981
1981 in Ireland
-Events:*14 February - Forty-eight young people die in a fire at the Stardust Ballroom in Artane, Dublin.*1 March - Bobby Sands begins a hunger strike at the Long Kesh prison in Belfast.*5 March - The petrol strike ends as 800 tanker drivers resume work....
by Henry Plumer McIlhenny of Philadelphia, who had purchased the estate in 1937
1937 in Ireland
-Events:*January 22 - The National Council of Women of Ireland is agitating to form a women's police force.*April 8 - All political parties and Church leaders gather at the Mansion House, Dublin to pay tribute to the Chief Rabbi, Dr. Herzog, who is leaving to take up the new post of Chief Rabbi of...
. Hollywood stars such as Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
and Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
stayed at the castle while McIlhenny owned it. The Irish Gleann Bheatha (Bheithe) translates into English as "Glen of the Birch Trees".
Captain Adair
The castle was built by Captain John George AdairJohn George Adair
John George Adair , sometimes known as Jack Adair, was a Scotch-Irish American businessman and landowner who provided the seed capital for the large JA Ranch in the Palo Duro Canyon of the Texas Panhandle, a region of Texas...
(1823
1823 in Ireland
-Events:*Catholic Association formed by Daniel O'Connell, to further Catholic Emancipation.*Northern Whig newspaper is founded in Belfast.-Births:*1 January - Edward Butler, lawyer and politician in Australia ....
-1885
1885 in Ireland
-Events:*The Munster & Leinster Bank begins operations following the collapse of the Munster Bank - see Allied Irish Banks.*The Railway Tavern in Belfast is renovated and reopened as the Crown Liquor Saloon....
), a native of Co Leix
County Laois
County Laois is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It was formerly known as Queen's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. The county's name was formerly spelt as Laoighis and Leix. Laois County Council...
, and a member of the minor gentry
Landed gentry
Landed gentry is a traditional British social class, consisting of land owners who could live entirely off rental income. Often they worked only in an administrative capacity looking after the management of their own lands....
. Adair had made his fortune by chancy land speculation
Speculation
In finance, speculation is a financial action that does not promise safety of the initial investment along with the return on the principal sum...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and he returned to Ireland and bought up vast tracts of land in Donegal. Adair had married in 1869
1869 in Ireland
-Events:The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland passes the Irish Church Act 1869.-Births:*16 March - Peter Maher, boxer .*27 March - James McNeill, politician and second Governor-General of the Irish Free State ....
, Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie
Cornelia Adair
Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie Adair was the matriarch of Glenveagh Castle in County Donegal, Ireland, now an Irish national park, and the large JA Ranch southeast of Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle, a still active cattle ranch...
, a daughter of James S. Wadsworth
James S. Wadsworth
James Samuel Wadsworth was a philanthropist, politician, and a Union general in the American Civil War. He was killed in battle during the Battle of the Wilderness of 1864.-Early years:...
, a Union General in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Together they set about the creation of the Gardens and Castle. Adair's ambition was to create an estate and castle that surpassed Balmoral
Balmoral Castle
Balmoral Castle is a large estate house in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and east of Braemar. Balmoral has been one of the residences of the British Royal Family since 1852, when it was purchased by Queen Victoria and her...
, Queen Victoria's Scottish retreat.
John Adair is remembered with scant affection in Donegal. On the heels of the Great Irish Famine and emigration on a par with the Highland Clearances
Highland Clearances
The Highland Clearances were forced displacements of the population of the Scottish Highlands during the 18th and 19th centuries. They led to mass emigration to the sea coast, the Scottish Lowlands, and the North American colonies...
, John Adair evicted 224 tenants from their black house
Black house
A blackhouse is a traditional type of house which used to be common in the Highlands of Scotland, the Hebrides, and Ireland.- Origin of the name :...
s on his land. This was not for financial gain, but merely to improve the æsthetic aspect from the castle. These tenant clearances are known as the "Derryveagh Evictions". The name of John George Adair as a Donegal landlord has passed into history and folklore, ballad and documentary. All have one thing in common - Adair was notoriously cruel. He purchased Glenveagh and Gartan in 1859 making an estate of 28000 acres (113.3 km²).
His troubles with the tenants began almost immediately. A row between them and Adair over shooting rights and trespassing sheep culminated in the murder of his Scottish steward James Murrog. Consequently Adair carried out his threat to evict the tenancy.
On the 3rd April 1861, a considerable cortege of 200 police, three sub officers, the resident magistrate
Resident Magistrate
A resident magistrate is a title for magistrates used in certain parts of the world, that were, or are, governed by the British. Sometimes abbreviated as RM, it refers to suitably qualified personnel - notably well versed in the law - brought into an area from outside as the local magistrate,...
and the sub-sheriff set out from Letterkenny to undertake their duties. The evictions began at Lough Barra where a widow, Mrs Hanna McAward and her six daughters and one son were the first to suffer. The work of destruction continued for three days through Magerashangan, Staghall, Claggan, Ardator and Castletown among other townlands. In all, 44 families were evicted making a total of 244 persons.
Many of the evicted went to the work house
Poor Law
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws before being codified in 1587–98...
in Letterkenny, others were helped by locals and the clergy also raised money. In Australia, the Donegal Relief Fund was revitalised and arrangements were made to help the young people aged between 16 and 28 years to emigrate. Many took advantage of the scheme. As they settled in Sydney the strong oral tradition
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
ensured that the descendents remembered their families bitter memories.