Glebe House and Gallery, Churchil
Glebe House is a wonderful Regency Period House, built in 1828. The house is set in mature woodland gardens close to the shores of Lough Gartan. It is located 2km from the quaint village of Churchill and just 14km from Letterkenny.
The house was originally a Church of Ireland Rectory known as St Columba’s but is best known as long time home of the late Derek Hill. Hill was a renowned painter and collector, and the catalyst behind the development of the Tory Island school of primitive painting. In 1980 he donated the house and his art collection to the state.
Contact Details
| t: +353 (0)74 913 7071 | f: facebook.com/TheGlebeHouseAndGallery |
| e:glebegallery[at]opw.ie |
Hill’s former studio has been converted into a modern gallery with changing exhibitions while his own art collection is shown in Glebe House together with European and oriental furniture and William Morris wallpapers and fabrics. The collection includes works by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Louis le Brocquy, Graham Sutherland, Auguste Renoir, Jack Butler Yeats, Oskar Kokoshka, Patrick Swift and the naive Tory Island painter, James Dixon.
The Gallery at Glebe House is now run by the Office of Public Works . It is open for a limited season each year – around Easter and then from June to the end of September. Access to the permanent collection in Glebe House itself is by guided tour only. The woodland gardens, which border Lough Gartan, are open all year round.
Tearooms
The grounds of Glebe House also include charming tearooms. The tearooms are now run by Glenveagh Tearooms so you can now enjoy their homebaking in a different but equally as beautiful setting. You can spoil someone special with a beautiful voucher for afternoon tea, a special occasion , birthday party, alternative Hen Party or just to say “Thank You ”
St Columb’s Gardens
Under the care of the OPW, St Columb’s Garden overlooks the shores of Lough Gartan, near Churchill, County Donegal. The gardens, which include many rare and unusual plants, surround Glebe House and Gallery and feature notable specimens of beech and chestnut trees. In the summer months the gardens usually host a number of garden fetes
