Burtonport
| Burtonport Irish: Ailt an Chorráin | |
| County Donegal | |
|---|---|
| |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | B717154 |
| Location: | 54°58’56"N, 8°26’4"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 304 (2016) |
| Local Government | |
| Dáil constituency: |
Donegal |
Burtonport is a Gaeltacht fishing village about four and a half miles northwest of Dungloe in The Rosses district of County Donegal. The main employers in the village are the Burtonport Fishermen's Co-op and the Bord Iascaigh Mhara (Sea Fisheries Board) ice plant. The village's Irish name, Ailt an Chorráin or Ailt a' Chorráin, is its 'official' name.[1]
History
Burtonport was developed by Marquess of Conyngham as a rival to another planned village on Rutland Island.[2]
A plaque in the village commemorates the brief landing on the nearby Rutland Island of a French military force led by James Napper Tandy in a failed attempt to assist rebels during the 1798 rebellion on 16 September 1798. St Columba's Church dates from 1899.
In 1974, a commune called Atlantis Primal Therapy Commune was established in Burtonport by Jenny James. The commune, which came to be known as "The Screamers" for its practice of primal therapy, moved to the island of Inishfree in 1980.[3] From 1982 to 1992 Burtonport was the home of the Silver Sisterhood, a new religious movement. Members believed that God was a woman.
Transport
As the mainland port for both the Arranmore car ferry service and the Arranmore fast ferry passenger service, Burtonport receives some passing tourist traffic. Burtonport had a railway service from Letterkenny between 1903 and 1940 provided by the Letterkenny & Burtonport Extension Railway (L&BER), a company jointly owned by the State and the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway (L&LSR). Burtonport railway station opened on 9 March 1903, but finally closed on 3 June 1940.[4]
References
- ↑ Placenames (Ceantair Ghaeltachta) Order 2004
- ↑ Darley, Gillian (1975). Villages of vision. London: Architectural Press. pp. 148. ISBN 0-85139-705-0. OCLC 1921555. https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1921555.
- ↑ Dunne, Aidan (7 November 2017). "The screaming cult makes its way to Galway". The Irish Times. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/the-screaming-cult-makes-its-way-to-galway-1.3279166.
- ↑ "Burtonport station". Railscot - Irish Railways. http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf.