Day 8 ~ Glenveagh Castle

Today we planned a trip out to Glenveagh Castle. Clodagh was sent to the sitters for two days to make the touring just a wee bit easier. Clodagh is nearing two years old and learning that the world does not revolve around her needs and wants. This process involves many tantrums so off to Eileen's she went. I just must say though that when Clodagh is not having her fits she's a most charming and sweet little lady!

Darryl and Keith packed up a great picnic lunch which we ate close to the car park before we headed out to the castle.

Emma spent a good deal of time in her carrier during the time we were in Ireland. She was a good sport.
A most unique bathroom area. They are underground!

Another photo just showing the bilingual signs. A nice change from French!

The tour was a very reasonable price.

At the visitor centre there was some great history and displays about Ireland and the area in general. They had some people in the lobby area playing trad music which gave it all a very authentic Irish feel!
You could walk the 4 kms to the castle but we opted for the bus instead. Darryl chose to walk and meet up with us after our castle tour. They said they have toured the castle so often (they bring most of their visitors here) they could give the tour themselves!

Wasn't that a great tour of the castle? We thought it was very interesting. Too bad you didn't get to see any of it. Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed inside. The castle was build in the 1800's as a bit of a holiday home and had changed hands over the years until it was left in trust to be shown to the general public. It was quite the party palace back in the day with the likes of Greta Garbo coming there to party!

Chad and Keith as just packing Liam back up for a tour of the grounds. We had to hold him for the castle tour as the backpack was not allowed inside.

The back of the castle with the atrium and gardens. I kept thinking about how much my mom would have loved roaming around this garden.

Isn't it stunning?

This is the groundskeeper's cottage and yes, he actually lives there. He had a peat fire burning in his fireplace and you could smell it all around.

I was quite surprised at the amount of tropical plants and trees I had seen in Ireland. Many houses have palm trees and gigantic pampass grass in their yards. The steady climate but really agree with these plants.

The grounds are extensive. Here is a map to show you just how big of a piece of land it covers. We walked to the top look out. Huffing and puffing all the way.

Nearing the look out. Once again we were happy for cool weather. Climbing that path in the heat would have killed me!

Nathan started a collection of burrs along the way. Of course they found themselves all over the kids clothes and shoes!

To give you an idea of the steepness of the hike. We pretty much started at the loch (lake) down below.

Time for coffee and biscuits (cookies).

Many areas to explore around the castle. My batteries in my camera died so Darryl was kind enough to let me use his to take lots more pictures.

The eternity pool down by the lake. Rumor has it there was many an 'au natural' swim party down here!

Keith and I near the boathouse.

It really was a magical place.



After we had walked and walked we stopped in the tea room for a snack. They still use the kitchens in the castle to prepare fresh baked goods each day. We all chose a decadent treat and tucked in with delight. I wish I had taken some pictures. Ack! I was too busy eating. I had a huge slab of traditional Irish fruitcake, Nate had apple tart, Chad had cheesecake.....yum!

This is back near the visitor's centre where we started. We had hoped to stop at the playground to let the kids run loose but the midges were out (similar to moquitoes) and attacking so we ran to the car for safety!

We took the long way home to see more of the county. We passed Muckish Mtn and Mt Errigal. Some of their highest peaks. Not high by BC standards but high enough.

At home Darryl made us a lovely dinner and we decided that the kids would clean up the kitchen that night. Ceara is well trained in the kitchen where as Nathan really isn't. She showed him just how to do it and they had such fun pretending to be servants at a castle and gossiping about the royalty with British accents. Now that I've seen how capable Nate is in the kitchen he's doing more here at home. Bonus!

They begged to have a 'sleepover' so we relented and Ceara dragged her bed down to the boys bedroom. Not quite sure how late they giggled but since they only see each other once every few years we let them go on and on. It's probably the last year they could have a sleepover as they aren't really kids for much longer!

The adults sat down to watch a few episodes of the British version of 'The Office'. Hysterical...but only if you appreciate British humor that is.

It was a full and very fun day!

I know this has been a long post my faithful readers! I'll finish off with a very short clip of some traditional music and dancing we saw just before we started our castle tour.

www.glenveaghnationalpark.ie