Glenveagh Castle

It is built in the Scottish baronial architectural style and consists of a four-story rectangular keep, surrounded by a garden, and a backdrop of some 165.4 km2 (40,873 acres) of mountains, lakes, glens and woods complete with a herd of red deer.

The castle was built by Captain John George Adair (1823-1885), a native of County Laois, and a member of the minor gentry.

Adair's ambition was to create an estate and castle that surpassed Balmoral, Queen Victoria's Scottish retreat.

On the heels of the Great Famine and emigration on a par with the Highland Clearances, John Adair evicted 224 tenants from their blackhouses on his land.

A row between them and Adair over shooting rights and trespassing sheep culminated in the murder of his Scottish steward James Murrog.

On 3 April 1861, a considerable cortege of 200 police, three sub-officers, the resident magistrate and the sub-sheriff set out from Letterkenny to undertake their duties.

In Australia, the Donegal Relief Fund was revitalized and arrangements were made to help young people aged between 16 and 28 years to emigrate.

[2] Internationally renowned Harvard University Professor Arthur Kingsley Porter purchased Glenveagh Castle and the surrounding property from the Adair estate in 1929.