14/02/2024

A Donegal Love Story - or is it?
If you drive from Glenveagh towards Crolly, or, as we called it ‘out the back of Errigal’, you will be treated to an almost overwhelming burst of scenery - after the stunning, but bleak bog land of the hinterland, the ground splits into the Poison Glen beneath you and the majestic rise of Errigal above you.
It’s impossible not to be distracted by the view, and if you’re seeing it for the first time, you’ll stop to take in the canyony look of the valley, the silvery stretch of lake - and then you see the ruins of a church down below, a beautiful ruin, roofless and slightly charred-looking, and magnificent.
So you find the tiny road that leads to the bottom of the valley, and the closer you get to the church, the more impressive it becomes. And if you don’t know shy it’s there, and you’re not being google-guided, the panels tell you that this church was built as a memorial - A Mrs. Jane Smith Russell had it built for her husband, James Russell, Landlord of the Dunlewey Estate.
Quite Romantic, you think? Ireland’s Taj Mahal? Well it is beautifull, built from white marble and blue quartz, But the Russells were landowners in the time of extraordinary poverty in West Donegal. Despite the obvious destitution of their tenants, the Russells raised rents and did nothing to improve their tenants’ living conditions. When Lord Russell kicks the bucket in 1848, Lady Jane erects this memorial, himself buried securely underneath it ~ a church that can fit 500 people in it, all doors and pillars and lovely lumps of the best of stone. And, according to an 1858 account, ‘the whole congregation does not exceed eleven adults, not one of whom is a native of the district’. *
Hmm. Unpopular husband dies suddenly, wife hooshes him into the ground, puts MASSIVE church on top of him… is this Romance? Or something more sinister? What do you think?
Anyway - we were here during the week, Leslie Ostreim and Institute Of Study Abroad Ireland took these photos, *Denis Holland was my source on landlords of Gweedore, a very happy, safe, uncynical Valentines Day to you! Niamh & John
Go Visit Donegal IrishCentral.com Celtic MKE Tourism Ireland