Altan Farm
Attraction Donegal, Ireland
About Altan Farm
Sitting on the remote shore of Lough Altan, at the foot of Mount Errigal, this roofless two-storey structure looks more like a small castle tower than what it actually is — a 19th-century sheep farm and summerhouse. There are no roads to it; getting there means roughly an hour's walk across open bogland, which keeps the crowds away. The building was purchased in 1844 by a Dublin solicitor named John Obins Woodhouse, who envisioned it as a summer retreat on the 1,500-acre estate. The surrounding landscape has a layered past: tenant evictions, the practice of booleying (seasonal mountain grazing), large-scale sheep farming, and eventually the so-called sheep wars of the area. It now stands roofless and gradually giving way to the elements, with Aghla More mountain rising behind it and the still waters of the lough in front. The local group Cairde na hEaragaile has taken on its conservation. Best visited in summer when the bogland is more forgiving underfoot.
Location & details
- Category
- Attraction
- Region
- Donegal, Ireland, Ireland
- Coordinates
- 55.05119, -8.07317
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