Glenveagh National Park , Co. Donegal
Glenveagh National Park is situated on the eastern side of the Derryveagh Mountains in the north-west of County Donegal. The Park contains 14,000 hectares of mountain, raised bogland, lakes and woodlands and is dissected by the valley which gives the park its name, Glenveagh meaning Glen of the Birches. The Estate was established by John Adair who, in April, 1861 evicted 244 tenants and cleared the land so as not to mar his views of the magnificent landscape. This ignoble history makes the beautiful views all the more poignant for today's visitor. The boggy Poisoned Glen in a gorge at the edge of Glenveagh National Park attracts ramblers and is well known for the legends attached to its name. The oldest says that when the giant tyrant cyclops, Balor of the Evil Eye, was slain by his grandson Lugh in the valley, the blood from his single eye poisoned the land. Another says that Irish rebels poisoned the water in the valley to kill the horses of an English army battalion that was camped there.