Welcome to Glengarry Heritage Centre

Sgeulachd a’ghlinne

Glengarry Heritage Centre

Glengarry Community Hall
Invergarry
Inverness-shire
PH35 4HG
Scotland

 

Tel: 01809 501424 or 01809 501421 (6 - 9pm)

email: glengarryheritage@outlook.com

Now on Facebook


GLENGARRY HERITAGE CENTRE

The Glengarry Visitor Centre Association was formed in 1998 to explore and preserve the rich local history of this glen and to provide a connection with the many clansmen who left their native lands for a new life in Glengarry County, Canada and other places around the world. The Visitor Centre was opened in 1999 in a wooden shed next to the Invergarry Hotel and also served as an information point for the many visitors and walkers who come to Glengarry to enjoy the outstanding beauty and natural history of the forest, the lochs and the hills.

The Visitor Centre housed a permanent exhibition telling the story of the glen in three themes – the MacDonells of Glengarry, the emigrations to Glengarry County, Canada and the Ellice family as Victorian landlords after the MacDonells left. We also began to build up a collection of other stories, photographs and documents from local people, former residents and Glengarry contacts worldwide.

The new Centre, the Glengarry Heritage Centre, now has a dedicated room in the Glengarry Community Hall, opened in May 2006. The aim is to encourage an expanding archive of local history, continue to welcome visitors with Glengarry links and also to offer a service to those in search of their ‘roots’.

Glengarry Heritage Centre is a charitable association run entirely by local volunteers. At present, it is open from Easter to October on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m, but is accessible at other times throughout the year by appointment and for local people. Admission is free. We now also have a small reference library, local census records and facilties for scanning and printing photos and pictures from our collection. Researchers from home or abroad are very welcome.

The Glengarry Community Hall can be found approximately one mile from Invergarry on the main A87 road to Kyle of Lochalsh.

PUBLICATIONS FOR SALE

“Wartime in Glengarry”(published in 2006 by the local Glengarry History Society)
local memories of two world wars with photographs. £4.50 plus postage

“Place Names of Glengarry and Glenquoich” by Edward C. Ellice
A limited edition of this rare book was reprinted in 1999. £19.99 plus postage

“Glengarry, A Highland History”
A CD Rom (digitised from our exhibition) with accompanying Highland music. £15.00 plus postage

“The Glengarry Water Kelpie”
A small book with lively illustrations and a Gaelic translationadapted from a tale in “Place Names”. £2.50 plus postage.

We also print a range of historical leaflets as a guide to the Glengarry area which we sell at the Centre and we have a small retail section selling books, maps and cards with a selection of local maps for walkers looking for old tracks and paths as far as Knoydart along the old road via Tomdoun to Kinlochhourn.

 

WALKS

Walks around Glengarry include the Great Glen Way, the Great Glen Cycle route and the Glengarry Forest Walks. Walks to old Highland settlements in Glengarry Forest can sometimes be arranged with the Recreation Ranger at Forest Enterprise, Lochaber who have been working with us to open up more access to local and natural history and archaeology.

The Daingean Trail, which we opened in 2005 in partnership with the Forestry Commission, is a good example of a pre-clearance settlement site.
This is easily approached via a forest track 5 miles from Invergarry just past the Tomdoun turning.

FINDING GLENGARRY CONNECTIONS

We are very happy to provide as much information as we can for people looking for ancestral connections to the glen, particularly if there is evidence of place names, and we now have local census records (1841 to 1901) which can be consulted. For further information we would advise contactingAlastair McLeod, genealogist at the Inverness Reference Library, Invernessor Margaret Macdonald, Archivist, at the Study Centre, Armadale Castle, Isle of Skye. www.clandonald.com

ACCOMMODATION

The following is just a selection of accommodation available in the area.

HOTELS	Glengarry Castle Hotel	www.glengarrycastlehotel.co.uk
	Invergarry Hotel	www.invergarryhotel.co.uk

SELF-CATERING	Saddle Mountain Hostel	www.saddlemountainhostel.co.uk
	The Beeches	The Beeches

At the Heritage Centre we also keep a list of a variety of bed and breakfast and guest houses in or near Glengarry.

SHOPS

The old Invergarry Store is closed but the Glengarry Filling Station has a small shop attached.
The local post office is open from 9 am to 12 pm.
For a wider selection, there is the Seven Heads Store opposite the Well of the Heads monument on Loch Oich, just two miles out of the Village.
For supermarket shopping, Fort William is 25 miles and Inverness 45 miles away.
Fort Augustus, on the Caledonian Canal, is just 7 miles away and has a good selection of shops and also a Tourist Information Centre.

Come and visit us and help keep alive the fascinating story of this Highland glen.