Glenveagh National Park

Glenveagh is the most remote of Ireland's national parks, a landscape of mountains, lakes and blanket bog in the heart of County Donegal that feels genuinely removed from the rest of the island. The valley runs east-west along the River Veagh, flanked by the Derryveagh Mountains, and the road in from the R251 runs for 15 kilometres through increasingly wild country before the castle comes into view on its promontory in Lough Veagh. The castle itself is a sprawling Victorian exercise in Gorth盖-style Gothic, begun in 1870 and completed by the American newspaper magnate Paren (builder's name marked needs_review), its salmon-pink render, battlements and towers looking deliberately theatrical in this bleak setting. The deliberately landscaped approach through a woodland garden of exotic conifers and rhododendrons, many planted in the late 19th century and now grown to full size, makes the first sight of the castle an even more striking contrast with the open moorland beyond the garden walls.

Inside, the castle rooms are hung with a collection of portraits, stained glass, oriental carpets and elaborate plasterwork ceilings that reflect the eclectic taste of its Victorian builders. The library on the first floor contains a strong collection of books on Irish history and natural history, and the dining room retains its original mahogany furniture and a fireplace surround carved with Irish motifs. The restoration of the castle was carried out by the National Parks and Wildlife Service over several decades beginning in the 1970s, and the interior now presents the castle as it might have looked at its peak while acknowledging the difficult history of the estate. The surrounding formal gardens are planted in the late Victorian style, with terraced beds, a restored Victorian conservatory and paths through woodland that are at their best in late spring when the rhododendrons are in flower. The contrast between the cultivated garden and the open blanket bog and mountains beyond is one of the most striking aspects of Glenveagh and sets it apart from more pastoral Irish landscapes.

The national park that surrounds the castle covers 16,500 hectares and is the largest of Ireland's six national parks, a wild upland landscape of mountains, lakes, heaths and bogs that is home to red deer, foxes, pine martens and, most remarkably, golden eagles. A reintroduction programme that began in 2001 brought chicks from Scotland and released them in the Derryveagh Mountains; the population has grown steadily and Glenveagh now has the only viable breeding population of golden eagles in Ireland, a species that was wiped out in the 19th century through systematic persecution. Patient observers may see one soaring on the mountain thermals above the castle, the largest bird of prey in Ireland and a genuinely thrilling sight. The park also holds a dark chapter in Irish social history: during the Great Famine of the 1840s the estate was enlarged through the eviction of hundreds of local tenant farmers, and a small heritage exhibition in the park tells that story with appropriate gravity. A network of waymarked hiking trails ranges from gentle lakeside walks to demanding mountain routes that require navigation in poor visibility.

Glenveagh is the largest national park in Ireland and offers a mountain wilderness that is genuinely rare on this island.

The golden eagle reintroduction is one of Ireland's most significant wildlife conservation successes.

The castle's Victorian interiors and gardens provide a vivid contrast with the wild landscape that surrounds them.