Glenveagh National Park

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Glenveagh National Park
Glenveagh National Park (Ireland)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg
Coordinates: 55 ° 1 ′ 0 ″  N , 8 ° 3 ′ 0 ″  W.
Location: Donegal , Ireland
Next city: Letterkenny
Surface: 160.5 km²
Founding: 1984
Address: Glenveagh National Park, Co Donegal
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Glenveagh National Park ( Irish Páirc Naisiúnta Ghleann Bheatha ) is located in County Donegal in Ireland . It takes its name from the Glenveagh valley ( Gleann Bheatha , dt. "Valley of life", eigtl. Probably gleann bheithe , "valley of the birch"), which divides the park into two parts. It is the second largest of six national parks in Ireland . It has an area of ​​nearly 16,548 hectares and is located in the Derryveagh Mountains. In its area are Mount Errigal (751 m above sea ​​level ) and Slieve Snaght (683 m above sea level), the two highest mountains in Donegal.

The park is home to one of the largest herds of red deer in Ireland. In 2001 golden eagles , which had not appeared in Ireland since 1912, were brought from Scotland to Glenveagh and released into the wild here.

Glenveagh Castle with its Victorian gardens and visitor center is located on Lough Veagh . The park is an important nature reserve. From the partly densely forested valleys with its lakes to the peaks, there are various vegetation zones with rare plants and animals.

history

In the years 1857-1859 the land speculator John George Adair (1823-1885), who came from County Laois , bought several neighboring parcels of land in County Donegal and formed from them Glenveagh. In April 1861 he forced 244 tenants to vacate the area because he expected better profits by raising cattle. In 1870 he began building Glenveagh Castle. The castle was completed in 1873. After his death in 1885, his wife Cornelia took over the land. She had the castle expanded and the gardens laid out and spent the summers here until 1916. After her death in 1921, the facility became orphaned and was confiscated by troops from both sides during the Irish Civil War. In 1929 Professor Arthur Kingsley Porter, historian at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts , bought the property. After his death in 1933, the castle was again empty until it was acquired by Henry McIlhenny from Philadelphia (USA) in 1937 . Both Kingsley Porter and McIlhenny enjoyed welcoming artists and celebrities to Glenveagh. In the library there are pictures by AE Russel . Yehudi Menuhin and Greta Garbo have stayed here several times. McIlhenny had Jim Russell redesign the garden and increase the variety of plants from 1940 onwards. In 1975 he sold the land to the Office of Public Works, which is responsible for the care and maintenance of the historic sites of the Irish state so that the national park could be established. In 1981 he donated the garden and the castle with most of the equipment to the national park administration.

The castle with its furnishings can still be viewed in its almost original state. The national park was opened to the public in 1984 and the castle in 1986.

  • Glenveagh National Park and Castle

  • Lake Lough Veagh

  • Glenveagh National Park

  • Glenveagh Castle and Lough Veagh lake

  • Lough Gleann

  • Glenveagh Castle and gardens

Flora and fauna

The almost bare peaks are home to an arctic-alpine flora with species such as: bear moss , bear grapes or herb willow . There are mountain hares here , but their fur usually does not turn white.

The moorland begins below the highlands. It is an Atlantic moor, which is otherwise only found in Scotland and Wales. In the drier areas of the moor you can find plants such as bell heather , bilberry and black crowberry . While the wetter grassland is overgrown with species such as fescue grass , reed or blue whistle grass . It also found Moor specialists such as butterwort and sundew .

In the lower moor areas, the vegetation changes again. You can now find more cotton grass and yellow affodil . The large numbers of meadow pipiters disappear over winter, but it has not yet been researched where the birds migrate. The park has 100 hectares of forest. The largest forest is Mullangore Wood on the southeast bank of Lough Veagh. The forest is dominated by oaks and birches , otherwise ash , hazel , yew , aspens and holly and some planted conifers can be found . The damp forest floor is densely populated by mosses and ferns . Here you can also find plants such as spleen herbs , liverworts , wood anemones and wood sorrel .

The forest provides food and nesting places for many birds. There are migratory birds like the Spotted Flycatcher , the Zilpzalp and rare in Ireland Wood Warbler . The conifers are home to coal tits , crossbills , siskins, and golden grouse . Badgers and foxes roam the forests and open spaces in search of food. One of their most important hunting animals is the wood mouse .

The small and large lakes get their water mainly from the area of ​​the national park and therefore have very clean and oxygen-rich water. Most of the lakes have trout and eel . Lough Veagh is also home to salmon , sea ​​trout and wandering char . The only breeding ground for the rare red-throated divers in Ireland can be found on the banks of the lake . The herds of red deer at Glenveagh Park can roam freely within the 40 km fence. In summer they move to the marshy slopes of the mountains, while in winter they retreat to the forest around Lough Veagh. The released golden eagles were able to raise their first young in 2007. After failing to breed in 2008, they have two young in 2009.

Web links

Commons : Glenveagh  - collection of images, videos and audio files