We discovered a fair amount of Northern Ireland. Two and a half days was just not enough time to see all the sites. The map below pinpoints most of the areas we visited. In case you missed any of the Northern Ireland posts, you can click on the each link below to view each blog posts in the series. You can also select the Destination/Travel link in the above menu and explore Norther Ireland or Republic of Ireland from there as well.
This site is what attracted us to Gweedore in County Donegal. A ruined gem, Dunlewey Church, in the middle of the desolate landscape not far from Glenveagh National Park.
Nestled at the foot of Errigal (the hightest mountain in County Donegal) and overlooking the beautiful Poisoned Glen sits the beautiful ‘Old Church of Dunlewey’.
“Jane Smith Russell had the church built as a memorial to her husband, James Russell, landlord of the Dunlewey Estate, who died on 2nd September 1848. James Russell was laid to rest in a vault under the church floor. The church was consecrated on 1st September 1853 as a Chapel of Ease to Tullaghabegley. Tullaghabegley was the parish consisting of the present day Gweedore and Cloughaneely parishes.
The church is built of white marble and blue quartzite which was quarried locally. The supply of marble in the nearby quarry has now been depleted. The red brick in the arches of the windows was produced locally. Remenants of the brickfield are still visible near Oilean Ghrainne when the level of the lake is lowered.
A two storey rectory was built in the nearby Glebe. This field, part of the Dunlewey Estate, is now forested. James Henry Bor was the only full time rector to reside in the rectory. He was nominated by Jane Russell on the 6th of September 1856 and later was installed as rector of Raymunterdoney in 1872. The church is at present under the curacy of the combined parish of Gweedore, Templecrone and Carrickfinn.
Buried in a large communal grave is Dr. Frazer Brady (died March 1877), his wife Fanny, who was a daughter of James and Jane Russell (died December 1900) and four of their ten children: Jane Russell died February 1851 aged 3 months; Mary died April 1860 aged 3 months; Valentine Pole Griffiths died April 1868 aged 4 years; and Hugh Woodhams died January 1876 aged 19 years.
Also interred in the surrounding graveyard is Richard Lewis Crankshaw, owner of Dunlewey Estate, who died 29th November 1929. His wife Nellie who died in 1946 is buried in the graveyard of the local R.C. chapel. Her grave faces this church and her husbands grave.
With the decline of the Dunlewey Estate the potential congregation diminished and the church was not in regular use. The expense of the upkeep and the passage of time added to the deterioration of the church. In 1955 the roof was removed as a safety measure. It’s furniture and fittings were distributed to other churches within the diocese of Derry and Raphoe. The bell is now installed in Cashel Church of Ireland near Doe Castle.
In 1987 the local community restored the floor. In 2005, half a century after the unroofing, with grant aid for the Programme for Peace and Reconciliation work was undertaken to ensure that this beautiful and historic landmark was preserved for future generations. In co-operation with Udaras na Gaeltachta and Fas the surrounding wall was subject to repair and conservation work. Considerable funds were raised through the generosity of the local community in the form of sponsored walks.”
After wrapping up our day 3 itinerary in Northern Ireland we moved on to destinations in the Republic of Ireland in the Northwest. Our first stop in County Donegal was Glenveagh Castle in Glenveagh National Park. As you can see from the photos below, the landscape was very drab, desolate and mostly brown. It was still very beautiful; I image the Summer brings more color.
Glenveagh (from Irish Gleann Bheatha, meaning “glen of the birches”) is the second largest national park in Ireland. The park covers 170 square kilometres of hillside above Glenveagh Castle on the shore of Lough Veagh (Loch Ghleann Bheatha), 20 km from Gweedore in County Donegal.
The park is home to the largest herd of red deer in Ireland and the formerly extinct golden eagle were reintroduced into the park in 2000.
Glenveagh National Park
Lough Veagh
Lough Veagh
The site occupied by the Castle and Gardens was wild mountain moorland. In 1869 the first part of the Castle was constructed. However it was not until the mid 1880’s that the Gardens were started. The two major elements of the Garden, the Pleasure Gardens and the Walled Garden were constructed in the late 1880’s. The original Victorian Garden layout remains intact. It was for Mrs. Cornelia Adair that the gardens were constructed. Mrs. Adair employed a Kew trained gardener to lay out the gardens. Some of the planting in the Pleasure Grounds such as the purple maples and the Scots pine trees were planted at this time. – wikipedia
Glenveagh Castle
Park Map http://www.glenveaghnationalpark.ie/
Glenveagh Castle and Gardens is very nice place – an oasis seemingly in the middle of nowhere. We finally met a good number of people out seeing the sites. It still wasn’t crowded at all. It was amazing to see different varieties of flora here. If your travels takes you in this direction plan of spending a few hours here. There are several walking paths to explore in addition to the gardens. There is a shuttle from the main parking area to the castle – we elected to take advantage of that as it looked as though it could downpour at any moment.
Mussenden Temple was built by Frederick Hervey, Bishop of Derry in honour of Mrs Frideswide Mussenden, the married sister of his cousin Hervey Bruce. The Bishop himself was also married and scandal was rife that an affair was going on. However, it is thought that they had nothing more than a platonic relationship. Sadly, Mrs Mussenden died at the age of 22, before the temple was completed. Bishop Hervey established a library in the temple and beneath the building a room for Catholic priests to say Mass – an example of his liberal attitude towards the Catholic Church.
Bofors Anit-Aircraft Gun, WW2: Colerainebc.gov.uk
This is another extraordinary spot in Northern Ireland with amazing views (never in short supply in NI). This is a very expansive setting with walking paths leading to and from features. We were again met with very few people; only a couple of occasions we waited out people traffic to take a photo. The tower structure in the gallery below was both and ice house (on the bottom) and a dovecote (on the top). There was plentiful indications of bird activity here. The temple itself looks quite grand at the top of the sea cliffs. It was closed for restoration work so we didn’t have an opportunity to go inside.
Walled Gardens
Walled Gardens
Walled Gardens
Dovecote & Ice house
Dovecote & Ice house
Dovecote & Ice house
Dovecote & Ice house
Bridge to Dovecote
View of Downhill Strand
View of Downhill Strand
Mussenden Temple f
Mussenden Temple f
Mussenden Temple f
Mussenden Temple f
Downhill House
Downhill House was a mansion built in the 18th century for Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol at Downhill, Northern Ireland. The house was started in 1775 and was a wonderful building in its hey day with “as many windows as there are days in the year”. Inside was a huge library, walls painted with frescoes and a large collection of paintings hung in the corridors, including works by Vandyke, Raphael and Tintoretto. In one corridor there was also a great organ. However, there was a disastrous fire in 1851 and the library and many of the statues were destroyed, though most of the paintings were rescued. Downhill was restored between 1870 and 1874 by John Lanyon and was lived in by the Bruce family until 1922. During WWII it was used as billets for RAF men and women. It was sold in 1944, after which it fell into disrepair.
The Bishop’s House
Bishops House
The Bishops House at Downhill Demesne (also known as Downhill House or Downhill Castle) is an immense as well as impressive structure. I can only image what it must have looked like in its day. This photo helps some and the photos in the gallery below will give you more insight.
Bishops House
Bishops House
Bishops House
Bishops House
Bishops House
Bishops Housee
Bishops House
Bishops House
Bishops House
Bishops House
The Mausoleum was built a distance away from the house to the South. Even at half its original height, it is still enormous. The video below will tell you more about this grand structure; it’ll only take a wee bit of time (2:09) to watch.
The Mausoleum
The Mausoleum
The Mausoleum
More on the Mausoleum…
Lion’s Gate was one of the access points to the property. Bishops Gate is the other access point. We elected to not visit the Black Glen Pond and Belvedere areas of the property as time was ticking away and we had to be on our way…to the next area of exploration in the Republic of Ireland. We very much enjoyed Northern Ireland. If I could redo the trip, I would have stayed in Northern Ireland an entire week and spent another week in the Republic of Ireland.
