Northern Ireland

Guinness family urged to open Donegal mansion to public use

Dunlewey House sits in the Poison Glen.
Dunlewey House sits in the Poison Glen. Dunlewey House sits in the Poison Glen.

There have been calls for the Guinness drinks’ family to make a stately home in west Donegal available for the teaching of Irish and the promotion of Gaelic culture.

Nestled in woods on the banks of Dunlewey Lake in the west Donegal Gaeltacht, the pink stately home lies in the scenic Poison Glen under the splendour of Mount Errigal. For many Northern holiday-makers and visitors, Dunlewey House is a key landmark on the journey into the Gaeltacht.

The stately home was built almost 200 years ago and has passed through different owners since. Previous owners of the property, which also includes outbuildings and extensive land, included the Russell family who paid for the building of the iconic, now roofless, An tSean Eaglais (The Old Church) in Dunlewey.

In more recent times, the house has been owned by the Guinness drinks family who used it as a holiday home. However, west Donegal independent councillor, Micheál Mac Giolla Easbuig believes the family should make the property available for wider public use.

Mr Mac Giolla Easbuig said the house was rarely used by the family and could prove a “national asset” while promoting the local economy.

“With a planned cultivation of the gardens and woodlands, the estate would prove a wonderful tourist attraction providing much-needed employment locally.

“Moreover, since this estate is in the heart of the Donegal Gaeltacht, it would open a door to a project dear to my own heart and that of many others, an Irish language campus specialising in teaching the native tongue to communities unfamiliar with the ancient culture,” Mr Mac Giolla Easbuig said.

The west Donegal councillor called on the Guinness family to engage with the Irish state to find a way of developing the “best possible use” of the property.