Glenveagh National Park outside Letterkenny in Co. Donegal stretches around a beautiful lake. A mansion sits on the edge of the lake, surrounded by gardens. The mansion’s docks jut into the lake, nestled amid rolling mountains. It rained a bit this day.
The full estate is largely decrepit and wild, with its rich lake melting into the mountains across. The gardens of Glenveagh Estate are in complete decay during the winter and early spring. Overgrown, mossy, and often dead, they hardly resemble what they probably used to be.
“Broken” is a little “creepy.” I happen to love it for that reason. There’s something brooding about the little angle with the hole in its arm and its downward gaze. Some sense of being forgotten and left behind.
I am always reminded of Lord of the Rings when I see the clearing in the forest and the moss-covered rocks, almost too many and too beautiful to seem real.