Working day 3 – Ireland East to West – Downpatrick to Glenveagh
The shortest route from Newcastle to Glenveagh can take about 3 hours and immerses you in the heart of the Irish countryside. You travel from the outskirts of Belfast, the funds of Northern Ireland, into the center of Gaeltacht, the Irish Gaelic-talking location of Eire.
You can see the transition as quickly as you go away the seaside. The farther west you travel, the less houses you see. This route will take you by the Ulster American People Park, an immersive, interactive residing museum that tells the tale of Irish immigration to The united states. Alternatively, you could take an hour’s detour north to see the Giant’s Causeway, 40,000 interlocking basalt columns at the ocean’s edge.
When yet again, there’s a seamless border between the British isles and the Republic of Ireland at the Foyle River. You could possibly not detect it at all, apart from the road signals swap to metric and are created in Gaelic first, with English as a secondary textual content. Though that’s the conventional for all of the Republic, it’s significantly major in the Gaeltacht regions.
You also will discover the climate and landscape modify as you enter the Atlantic coastal zone. The eco-friendly pastures out your window modify to peat bogs as you turn into the oddly named Glenveagh (glen of the birches) National Park.
There need to have been a time when trees coated this valley, but that was a extended time back. It was long in advance of John George Adair created Glenveagh Castle, his palatial country estate, and drove off the local villagers on 1 chilly and brutal morning. It was not extensive before invasive rhododendrons escaped his manicured gardens and commenced ravaging the hillside.
People can even now see the castle, gardens (1 of Ireland’s very best), and vestiges of temperate rainforests in microclimate pockets all around Lough Veagh that contributed to this estate turning out to be a National Park. You can also trip bikes via the park, find out extra about historical past, and see how biologists are restoring the valley to its former glory.
Logistically, you will want to approach lunch at the park at either the Synge & Byrne Cafe by the visitor middle or at the tearoom by the castle and gardens. Go away the park in the late afternoon to enjoy the viewpoint earlier mentioned Dunlewey Lough before arriving at Gweedore for the evening. An Chúirt Hotel is a 4-star hotel alongside the Clady river that delivers at ease beds and a delightful on-premise cafe.