Fanad

Fanad Head and the lighthouse

Fanad is a peninsula on the north coast of County Donegal, that lies between Lough Swilly on its east side and Mulroy Bay and the Atlantic on the west. Its headland on the sea is Fanad Head, and here stands the Fanad Head Lighthouse.

The origins of the name 'Fanad' are lost in time thought there is some speculation that the name derives from an old Gaelic word Fana for "sloping ground". It is also referred to as 'Fannet' or 'Fannett' in older records. There are an estimated 700 people living in Fanad of whom 30% are Irish speakers.

Geography

• Location map: 55°16’35"N, 7°37’54"W

Fanad encompasses the parishes of Clondavaddog, Killygarvan and parts of Tullyfern and Aughinish. It measures approximately fifteen miles north-south measured from Fanad Head to the town of Ramelton and approximately seven and a half miles east-west measured between the townlands of Doaghbeg and Glinsk.

How one reckons the southern boundary of Fanad is a lively question, and has been the subject of some dispute over the centuries. In the 16th century, during the time of the MacSuibhnes as rulers of Fanad, it was stated that the territory of Fanaid stretched as far south as the River Lennon between Kilmacrennan and Ramelton. In 1835, the surveyor John O'Donovan referred to Rathmullan as the capital of Fanad, and he also refers to Clondavaddog as "the most northern parish of Fanaid", suggesting that Fanad included parishes other than Clondavaddog. O'Donovan also noted that "The inhabitants of Inishowen state that Fanaid extends from Rathmeltan to Mulroy Lough, but the natives of the Parishes of Killygarvan, Tully and Aughnish, who considered themselves civilised, deny that they themselves are of the men of Fanaid". It consists of small villages such as Tamney, Rossnakill and has a bordering village called Kerrykeel.

Geology

Geological maps of County Donegal show rock alignments running south-west to north east across the Fanad peninsula. The underlying rock in the peninsula is mostly of Dalradian meta-sedimentary rocks, which have been exposed by weathering and erosion over the millennia There are areas of Granodiorite igneous rocks across the northern end of the peninsula from Ballywhoriskey to Fanad Head, but the greater part of Fanad consist of Middle-Dalradian Quartzite and some Pellite rocks with local occurrences of Schists and Tillites – the latter mostly concentrated around the northern inlet of Mulroy Bay.

The cliffs around Fanad Head are of exposed Grandiorite, whereas the higher ground running south from Fanad Head to Portsalon is a band of Quartzite. Knockalla Mountain is also formed of Quartzite.

History

The power of the O'Breslins in Fanad lasted until some time after 1263 when the Chieftains of Tir Conaill, the O’Donnells, granted the sub-chieftaincy of Fanad to the MacSweeneys, who had originated as galloglasses (mercenary warriors from the Hebrides), and they were responsible for the building of the castle and the Carmelite Monastery at Rathmullan at the end of the 16th century. The MacSweeneys were also responsible for the building of the tower house at Moross on the upper stretches of Mulroy Bay in about 1532.

The power of the MacSweeneys as Lords of Fanad ended with the Flight of the Earls in 1607 and the subsequent Plantation of Ulster, though they continued to hold some lands in Fanad as proprietors until the 1641 rising, following which all remaining MacSweeney lands were confiscated.

Despite the Plantation, Fanad retained its majority native population and Gaelic ways and Irish remained the principal spoken language of the peninsula – a situation that remained generally unchanged until the mid 19th century. The 18th century saw the introduction into Fanad of rural industry with a corresponding improvement in infrastructure. Rearing cattle commercially, herring fishing, flax growing and linen production came to feature in the local economy from the mid-18th century.

By the early 19th century, manufacture of bent hats, shoes and kelp production were also evident. Rathmelton was a major focus of the linen industry and was stated to have had the largest bleaching green in Donegal during the late 18th century and early 19th century – a time of major prosperity in the town. It also thrived as a port at this time. However, linen and domestic shoe production went into decline by the 1820s and the herring fisheries had also declined. As a result, emigration became a greater feature of life as the local population increased.

In 1837, Samuel Lewis published a topographical dictionary which included the following contemporary description of the Parish of Clondavaddog: CLONDEVADOCK, or CLONDEVADOGUE, a parish, in the barony of KILMACRENAN, county of DONEGAL, and province of ULSTER, 15½ miles (N. by E.) from Letterkenny; containing 9595 inhabitants. This parish, which comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 27,367¼: statute acres, of which 627¾ are water, is situated on the north-western coast; it comprehends the greater part of the peninsular district of Fannet, or Fanad, extending northward into the ocean, and terminating in the points called Maheranguna and Pollacheeny. The surface is for the most part occupied by mountains of considerable altitude, among which Knockalla is 1196 feet above the level of the sea: these are separated by deep and narrow vales, of which the soil is tolerably good, consisting of a brown gravelly mould, sometimes inclining to clay, on a basis of white gravel, brownish or reddish clay, slate of various colours, and sometimes soft freestone rock. The parish contains about 60 quarter lands of good arable and bad pasture, with much waste and barren land: many acres have been covered and destroyed by the shifting sands. The point of Fannet is in lat. 55° 15' 50" (N.) and lon. 7° 39' (W.): it is on the western side of the entrance of Lough Swilly, and a lighthouse has been erected on it, of which the lantern has an elevation of 90 feet above the level of the sea at high water; it consists of nine lamps, displaying a deep red light towards the sea, and a bright fixed light towards the lough or harbour, and may be seen in clear weather from a distance of 14 nautical miles. The seats are Croohan House, the residence of R. H. Patton, Esq.; Greenfort, of H. Babington, Esq.; and Springfield, of M. Dill, Esq.

The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of Raphoe, and in the patronage of the Provost and Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin: the tithes amount to £463.5.4½. The glebe-house was built by aid of a loan of £100 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1795; the glebe comprises 240 acres, of which 160 are uncultivated. The church is a plain structure, towards the repairs of which the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £371.10.3. The R. C. parish is co-extensive with that of the Established Church, and contains two large chapels. There are five schools, one of which, the parochial school, is partly supported by annual donations from the rector and the late Col. Robertson's school fund. In these about 250 boys and 130 girls are instructed; and there are two pay schools, in which are about 70 boys and 11 girls, and five Sunday schools.

The landscape evolved to reflect the development of local estates during this time. The existence of picturesque seascapes induced many local landowners to site "big houses" in parkland settings overlooking Lough Swilly and Mulroy Bay. In addition to the great houses listed by Lewis, other notable houses built during this era included Drumhalla House (1789) by Dr. Knox, Fort Royal in Rathmullan (1807) by Charles Wray, Rathmullan House (1820) by Lt. Col. Knox of Prehen and Glenalla House (1810) north of Rathmullan which was built by the Hart family.

Rural tourism emerged about this time – Fanad features in an 1849 traveller’s guide which notes, inter alia, that There are a few more romantic spots than Ramelton and its vicinity. The town contains three Presbyterian meeting-houses, a Methodist chapel and a church: the Roman Catholic chapel is at some distance. There are corn mills and stores, a brewery and a bleach green. Although there is no pier, some exports are made in such small vessels as sail up the harbour. Ramelton contains some good houses and two small inns at which cars can be hired…… Rathmullan, in its single street, church, battery and some vestiges of ecclesiastical and castellated ruins offers but little to arrest the attention of the traveller...Milford contains one or two public houses, a few shops, some respectable dwellings and in its vicinity a union workhouse..…The village of Rosnakill will not detain the traveller, it chiefly consists of poor cabins but it contains the parish church, some small retail shops and one or two public houses…….A good inn at Ballyvicstocker, one of the most lovely of all our sea bays and which is admirably suited to bathing, and where B. Barton Esq., the proprietor of the Greenfort Estate and one or two others have built comfortable villas, together with good roads from Ramelton and Rathmullan would tend to induce strangers to visit Fanad.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Fanad)

• Fanad Head Lighthouse: Commissioners of Irish Lights
• Fanad

References

• Walsh, Paul. Leabhar Chlainne Suibne: An Account of MacSweeney' Families in Ireland with Pedigrees.