It was a short drive from Glen to Glenveagh National Park. The main feature of this park is Glenveagh Castle. It was built by Captain John Adair between 1867 and 1873. Adair made a fortune by risky land speculation in the United States. He returned to Ireland and bought up tracts of land in Donegal. He had married Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie in 1869, and she was a daughter of a Union general in the American Civil War. Together, they created the gardens and the castle. Adair wanted to surpass Balmoral, Queen Victoria's Scottish retreat. Of course, it was a messy process and involved buying land and evicting hundreds of long-time tenants from their homes.

The castle is in the Scottish baronial architectural style and consists of a four-story rectangular keep surrounded by gardens. The property is over 40,000 acres of the Derryveagh Mountains with lakes, glens, and woods and includes a herd of red deer.

The estate changed hands twice, once in 1929 and again in 1937. Henry McIlhenny purchased it in 1937 but bequeathed it to the Irish state in the 1970's while continuing to live in the castle part-time until 1982. It had many famous visitors over the years including Greta Garbo, Marilyne Monroe, and John Wayne. Today it's the second largest national park in Ireland at over 65 square miles.

We toured the entire castle, all the gardens around the castle, and took one longer walk up into the mountains.

The head gardener had his own house in the garden behind the castle.

The next photo was on our walk up into the mountains. It gives a better idea about the land and mountains surrounding the castle.

The castle overlooks a large lake.

The castle even had a swimming pool which sat right above the lake and below the castle.