Gweedore ( ), officially known by its Irish language name (), is a Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) district and parish on the northwestern coast of County Donegal, Ireland. Gweedore includes the settlements of Brinlack, Bunbeg, Derrybeg, Crolly (partially), and Dunlewey.
Gweedore is sometimes described as one of Europe's most densely populated rural areas, and is the most populous Irish-speaking district in Ireland, with about 4,065 inhabitants. It stretches some from Glasserchoo and Bloody Foreland in the north to Crolly in the south and around inland from the Atlantic coast to Dunlewey in the east. Gweedore is at the western end of the Barony of Kilmacrenan. Townlands.ie: Barony of Kilmacrenan, Co. Donegal. https://www.townlands.ie/donegal/kilmacrenan3/ Gweedore and the neighbouring districts of Cloughaneely and the Rosses are collectively known locally as 'the Three Parishes'; they form a social and cultural region distinct from the rest of the county, with Gweedore serving as the main centre for socialising and industry.
The district is known for being a cradle of Irish culture, with Irish customs, traditional music, Gaelic games and the Irish language playing a key role in the lives of the local people. This, along with its scenery and many beaches, has made the area a popular tourist destination, especially with visitors from Northern Ireland. Gweedore is overlooked by County Donegal's highest peak, Errigal. It is the home of the northwest regional studios of the Irish-language radio service RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, as well as an external campus of the University of Galway.
Name
"Gweedore" is the anglicisation of the original and official Irish name Gaoth Dobhair. Gaoth means "sea estuary" and refers to the estuary of the Crolly River, also known as the Gweedore River. This is the boundary between Gweedore to the north and The Rosses to the south. The old name of this river was the Dore, or Dobhar, which is also an old Irish word for a body of water. Therefore, Gaoth Dobhair means "the estuary of the (river) Dore".
The name "Gweedore" or Gaoth Dobhair does not refer to any specific village, but refers to the traditional district, and to the Catholic parish of the same name, which is also called Tullaghobegly West. The settlements of Brinlack, Bunbeg, Derrybeg, Dunlewey and Crolly, and other populated area such as Meenaleck, Dore and Magheraclogher, are collectively known as "Gweedore".
Landscape
The Gweedore coastline consists of long sandy beaches and rugged cliffs with small islands, including Gola Island and Tory Island. Bád Eddie ("Eddie's Boat"), the Cara na Mara ("Friend of the Sea"), is the wreck of a ship on Magheraclogher Strand that came ashore for minor repairs in 1977 and has been stranded since.
The Crolly River (), also known as the Gweedore River, and the Clady River () are two of the main rivers flowing through Gweedore.
Gweedore is close to Errigal, the tallest mountain in County Donegal, which overlooks the picturesque Dunlewey Lough. It is surrounded by the deep glens and lakes of the Poisoned Glen, through which the Cronaniv Burn flows,Discovery Series Sheet 1 (Fourth Edition). Ordnance Survey of Ireland (O.S.I.), Dublin, 2012. and further on, Glenveagh national park and castle, the second-largest national park in Ireland.
Language Gweedore has a population of 4,500 and is divided into three electoral divisions (EDs): Machaire Chlochair (Magheraclogher) with a population of 2,651 and an estimated 77% native Irish speakers. Cnoc Fola/Mín an Chladaigh (Bloody Foreland / Meenacladdy) with a population of 1,326 and 83% Irish speakers. Dún Lúiche (Dunlewey) with a population of 695 and 76% Irish speakers.
The predominant spoken language of the district is Irish, but English can be widely heard as well. All schools and religious services are conducted in Irish, and roadside advertisements are also in Irish. Thousands of second-level and some third-level students from all over Ireland attend summer schools at Coláiste Bun an Inbhir, Coláiste Chú Chulainn, and Coláiste an Phiarsaigh in Gaoth Dobhair every summer to further their knowledge and understanding of the Irish language. One of the summer schools, Coláiste Cholmcille (Columba's College), closed in 2011 following a child sexual abuse scandal. This is a Gaeltacht, an area where the Irish language is the first language, providing an unbroken link with millennia of Irish history and culture.
Since most of the inhabitants of the area are bilingual, it is common to hear English vocabulary used within an Irish sentence and vice versa. A rich subset of unique vocabulary and phrases has arisen from this bilingualism and owing to this, the civil parish has attracted some curious interest from both lexicographers and etymologists in the past. For example, the Irish suffix -ailte or -eáilte is used to form a Gaelicised version of English verbs, as in wreckailte "tired".
History
The Plantation of Ulster in 1609 added a twist to the fate of the parish. Irish-speaking families who were driven from their fertile lands in the Laggan district and the surrounding areas in East Donegal made their way to the poor boglands of West Donegal. Some of them made it as far as Gweedore and could go no further west. Around the same time, English and Scottish colonists began to arrive when this uncharted territory was converted to baronies. It appears the parish was very sparsely populated up until the 17th century. The first people to arrive lived on the islands or by the shore in clusters, pockets of houses built close together and in each other's shade. Up until the early 19th century the parish was only lightly populated and it seems the people had an amicable relationship with the landowners.
The standard of life was to deteriorate with the arrival of new landlords in the 19th century, in particular Lord George Hill (1801–1879) and his son Arthur. The people of the parish led by James McFadden (), the parish priest in 1875–1901, challenged the landlords with the founding of the Land League and the Plan of Campaign. The killing by locals of Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) District Inspector William Limbrick Martin outside the local church (Teach Phobail Mhuire) in Derrybeg on Sunday 3 February 1889, while reportedly rushing Father McFadden with a drawn sword, was the climax of the Land War in Gweedore. 43 people were arrested after the killing. The case was recalled in the 1928 memoirs of Tim Healy, who defended Father McFadden and his parishioners.
An Irish American journalist, W.H. Hurlbert, also investigated the landlord-tenant dispute in Gweedore in minute detail in his book Ireland under Coercion, published in 1888.
Many books have been published in Irish, and several in English, detailing Gweedore's rich history. One of the most prolific of local historians was Cáit Nic Giolla Bhríde.
Freak storm On the afternoon of 23 June 2009, a severe thunderstorm struck Gweedore. It was centred on the adjoining villages of Bunbeg and Derrybeg, and lasted for several hours, causing two rivers to burst their banks, flooding houses, shops and factories, ripping up roads and destroying bridges. Lightning which lasted for two hours damaged power lines and caused a major breakdown of mobile phone service, leaving people trapped by the floods unable to contact help. Up to 20 houses were cut off from the outside world after three access bridges were carried away by the swollen rivers.
Described as the worst storm "in living memory", it was also the most severe since 1880 when five people drowned in Derrybeg. Owing to the highly localised nature of the storm, the areas of maximum rainfall missed the network of rain gauges but Met Éireann estimated that between 2 pm and 6 pm, up to of rain fell at the core.
Economy
In the 1980s and 1990s, Gweedore had a thriving factory industry, where up to 20 large companies were established producing rubber, carpets, body toning equipment and cleaning agents. However, by 2001 most of these companies had closed due to competition from Eastern Europe. Up to 4,000 jobs were lost, and this had a serious economic and social effect on Gweedore and surrounding areas. The factory in the townland of Crolly has been manufacturing porcelain dolls since 1939 under the name Crolly Dolls.Crolly Dolls history In 2003, the estate was renamed Páirc Ghnó Ghaoth Dobhair (Gweedore Business Park) and the Gaeltacht body, Údarás na Gaeltachta, started a campaign to try to entice businesses to Gweedore in hope of reviving the local economy. A Scottish company opened a call centre on the estate, but this subsequently closed.
Other businesses include a number of supermarkets, convenience stores, beauticians and hairdressers, garages, pharmacists, pubs, cafes and three well-established hotels: Derrybeg Hotel, Teach Jack and An Chúirt (Gweedore) Hotel.
Education
Primary All five primary schools in the area are Irish-speaking schools; children are taught English from senior infants level (5–6 years old).
Scoil Chonaill, Bunbeg (An Bun Beag) Scoil Mhuire, Derrybeg (Doirí Beaga) Scoil Phádraig, Dore (Dobhar) Scoil Bhríde, Mín an Chladaigh Scoil Adhamhnáin, Lunniagh (Luinneach)
Second-level The only community school (post-primary) is Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair, established in Lunniagh in 1973. As with the local primary schools, all students are educated through the medium of Irish and most sit their public examinations in Irish.
Third-level In 2004, NUI Galway (now University of Galway) expanded to Gweedore when it opened Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge, as part of its obligation to develop third-level education through an Irish medium.
Transport There are a number of private coach services that operate in the Gweedore area such as Bus Feda, Coyle's Coaches, John McGinley, Gallaghers Coaches, Mangan Tours, and Crónán Mac Coaches. The TFI Local Link route 966 (Dungloe/Falcarragh) also services the area linking it to Crolly, Annagry, Donegal Airport, Kincasslagh, Burtonport and Dungloe. Local Link route 971 (Burtonport/Letterkenny) from Crolly and the former Gweedore railway station also provides an additional link to Letterkenny from the area.
Gweedore is also close to Donegal Airport, located at Carrickfinn just west of neighbouring Ranafast in the Rosses.
Former rail services Gweedore railway station, opened on 9 March 1903, provided rail transport to the area under the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway (L&LSR) until it closed for passenger traffic on 3 June 1940. The route was temporarily re-opened in 1941 during the emergency and finally closed permanently on 6 January 1947. The chief railway engineer was Taggart Aston, from Belfast. He was responsible for the design and construction of many of the bridges on the Letterkenny to Burtonport Extension narrow-gauge railway (L&BER), a company jointly owned by the State and the L&LSR.
The Lough Swilly Bus Company's bus routes that eventually replaced the train routes ceased operating in April 2014.
Sport
Sports played locally include Gaelic football, golf and soccer.
Gaelic games The local Gaelic games club, CLG Ghaoth Dobhair, is located in Machaire Gathlán and provides facilities for all GAA sports. The Gaoth Dobhair senior team is the most successful club in the Donegal Senior Football Championship and Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta. It won the 2018 Ulster Senior Club Football Championship. Players such as Kevin Cassidy and the McGee brothers—Eamon and Neil—are known nationally for their exploits with the senior Donegal county football team. Newcomers, such as Odhrán Mac Niallais, Kieran Gillespie, Michael Carroll and Cian Mulligan have secured places in the senior county football team in recent years. Hurling was never a popular sport in Gweedore, with the exception of a briefly successful minor team in the late 1990s.
Golf