Glebe House and Gallery

About the museum

Glebe House is a Regency house built in 1828 in woodland gardens on the shore of Lough Gartan, near Churchill in County Donegal. From the 1950s the English portrait and landscape painter Derek Hill lived and worked here. He filled the rooms with his own taste: William Morris wallpapers and textiles, Victorian and oriental furniture, glass, personal photographs and the paintings he gathered over a lifetime. In the early 1980s he gave the house and its contents to the Irish state.

The collection runs to several hundred works, mostly by twentieth-century artists, among them Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Oskar Kokoschka, Jack B. Yeats and Louis le Brocquy, together with Japanese and Islamic art. Hill also helped to start the Tory Island school of painters, and work by artists such as James Dixon is part of the display. The house is kept much as he left it.

Hill’s former studio next to the house was converted into a modern gallery that is free to enter and shows changing exhibitions. The site is looked after by the Office of Public Works. The house, gallery and tea rooms were closed in September 2024 for a major conservation programme that tackled damp and water getting into the buildings, and the site was officially reopened in May 2026. The work was planned to be finished before the house’s bicentenary in 2028.

Highlights

• Derek Hill’s house with its original interiors and William Morris textiles
• Works by Picasso, Braque, Kokoschka, Jack B. Yeats and Louis le Brocquy
• Paintings by Tory Island artists such as James Dixon
• Free gallery in the painter’s former studio
• Woodland gardens beside Lough Gartan

Permanent exhibition

• Derek Hill House and collection – The painter’s home kept as he left it, with his collection of twentieth-century art, oriental objects and William Morris furnishings.

Operated by

Office of Public Works (OPW)

Admission & discounts

The gallery in the former studio is free of charge, and the gardens are free to enter. Card payments are accepted.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Heritage Ireland lists limited access and uneven walkways. A family toilet is available. Please contact the site before a visit if you have specific access needs.

Kids & families

• Baby changing facilities

A baby changing facility and a family toilet are listed among the site facilities. A family ticket is available.

Getting there & parking

The site is about 18 km from Letterkenny on the R251 and about 2 km from Churchill village.

Amenities & dining

• Café

A tea room is part of the site. Brochures are available at the site.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit