Glack House on Inch a haven for a Donegal staycation

The couple bought the house just over five years ago and they have been working hard since then to bring the house back to it’s former glory and provide luxury glamping in the idyllic Inch Island while also preserving the local wildlife.

Keith said: “Myself, my dad and a friend built everything here. It was five years of work so we put a lot into it and we were delighted to open in February 2020. We had to close again in March because of Covid, which was very disappointing, but whenever we have been open, it’s been great and people really seem to love the place. Myself and my wife also have another business so this was a labour of love.

“We have two cabins, which hold eight people, and we’re currently prepping the house in the hopes that it will be able to rent soon. We have moved away ourselves so the big house is sitting there empty. The house sleeps another seven people so we could have 15 people stay easily. We also have large tents that we can put up to cater for larger groups and the tents are beautiful. They have sheepskin rugs and lanterns and are very plush. They’re nicer than our bedroom! 
“We came up with the idea for the business because my wife and I got married here. Kelsey is American and I lived in California for ten years but we came back to Derry to start the business. I’m a full time touring musician so now we live in Portugal and we’re lucky that we’re able to manage the business from there. We do all the online side of things and we have two employees who do the meet and greet and take care of things for us. I’ve travelled for 17 years of my life as a musician and Portugal is only two and a half hours away so it’s not a big deal to go home for an event or if anything needs fixed.

“Inch is one of the most beautiful places in the world. We love it here. We don’t really want to promote the island too much because the reason why Inch is so beautiful is because a lot of people don’t know about it. We don’t want to be the people who change the place.

“The great thing we’ve found about Glack House is that people come here and plan outings and activities but then when they see the place, they don’t leave. We have a big bar out there with an open fire, we have the cabins and hammocks, a roofed outdoor area with sofas and barbecues, a wood fired hot tub. There’s so much to do here. It can be romantic if you want it to be romantic or you can have a party if you want to party. We do hen parties, weddings, birthdays and everything in between. There’s two beaches beside us that you can walk to as well.

“A lot of people can’t believe they are in Ireland when they see what we’ve created. I’ve travelled America my whole life and my wife has done a lot of travelling too so we’ve seen a lot of places and we brought all those experiences together. The place took a long time to build. Everything’s reclaimed so some of the windows are from old churches, the wood for the A-frames is reclaimed. You couldn’t buy what we have here because we spent a long time collecting and curating to make it special and unique.

“We would often see people come for a weekend away with their partner, open a bottle of wine and put the record player on. It’s a great night away if you’re from Derry and Donegal and you wouldn’t even know you’re only two minutes down the road. We love when people just come and enjoy it.”

Visit glackhouse.com for more information or search Glack House on Facebook.