Letterkenny

Template:Infobox Irish Place Letterkenny (Irish: Leitir Ceanainn) is the largest town in County Donegal, an Ulster county within the Republic of Ireland. It is located on the River Swilly. Despite its size, Letterkenny is not the County Town (administrative centre) of County Donegal. This function is fulfilled by Lifford, a small town to the east. Letterkenny dominates the economy of County Donegal, Ulster's largest county. The town is considered to be one of the fastest growing towns in all of Ireland. Letterkenny and the nearby City of Derry form the major economic core of North-West Ireland.

It has been said that the town's Main Street is one of the longest in Ireland. The town was voted "Best Kept Urban Centre" in the 2007 "Best Kept Town Awards" and "Tidiest Large Urban Centre" in the 2007 Tidy Towns competition although in 2002, after a National Anti-Litter League survey carried out by An Taisce, the town was compared to The Liberties in Dublin in relation to litter.

Name

Letterkenny takes its name from the Irish "Leitirceanainn" – meaning the "Hillside of the O'Cannons" – the O'Cannons being the last of the ancient chieftains of Tir Conaill. Although the O'Cannons were the last chieftains of Tir Conaill no evidence of forts or castles belonging to the clan exists in or around the Letterkenny district. (Leading to speculation on a possible derivation of the name Letterkenny: from the Irish "Leitir Ceann-Fhoinn" meaning "Fairheaded Hillside").

The Cannons are descended from two of Ireland's most renowned Kings: Conn of the Hundred Battles and Niall of the Nine Hostages. The O'Cannons have been described as "Ancient Princes of Tir Connaill" and "Valiant Chiefs". However their 350 year dynasty in Tir Connaill ended in 1250. Their ancient territory would seem to have been Tir Aeda (now the barony of Tirhigh) after the deaths of Rory O'Canannain and his son Niall O'Canannain in 1250, the sept declined greatly in power. Brian O'Neill died ten years later in 1260, he had supported an O'Canannain claimant to Tir Conaill i.e. to the Kingdom of Tir Conaill (Tirconnell). The personal name Canannain is a diminutive of Cano meaning 'wolf cub'. Canannain was fifth in descent from Flaithbertach mac Loingsig (died 765), high-king of Ireland; they were the descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages (Irish: Niall Noigiallach) who died c. 405 A.D. by his son, Conall Gulban who gave his name to Tir Conaill, the Land of Conall, now Co. Donegal.

Ui Canannain was the ancestral name of the Cannons and Tir Connaill (all of County Donegal and part of County Londonderry) was the "Land of the Cannons". By the early 1600's the name Ui Canannain had been anglicised to O'Cannon. Further anglicisation took place during the Penal laws in the late 1700's and early 1800's and the name in Co. Donegal became Cannon. In the early 1880's there were just 200 families bearing the Cannon surname living in Co.Donegal, who were mainly tenant farmers. The Cannons/O'Canannains, were of the ancient sept of Cenell Conaill, a branch of the northern Ui Neill and descend from Ruaidri ua Canannain (died 30th November 950.) King of Cenel Conaill, and grandson of Canannain, who flourished in the second half of the ninth century. One of Neill's most famous descendants was George Washington, the first President of the United States of America. The site of the ancient seat of the O'Canannains was near Letterkenny the largest town of Co. Donegal, which is said on good authority to represent the hillside of the O'Cannons (English translation).

History

Letterkenny Town Centre ca. 2005

Letterkenny began as a market town in the 17th century (before the Great Famine) and was the first crossing point of the River Swilly. In the recent past the population of Letterkenny consisted of cattle and sheep grazing on what were then untilled hillside - when Conwall (3 km west of Letterkenny) was the ecclesiastical and seaport centre. The waters of the Atlantic had not yet retreated from the basin of the Swilly whose estuary at that time extended up almost as far as New Mills - proof of this may be found in those alluvial flat-lands between Oldtown and Port Road.

Rory O'Cannon, the last chieftain of the O'Cannon clan was killed in 1248. Godfrey O'Donnell succeeded Rory O'Cannon as King of Tír Conaill. He engaged Maurice Fitzgerald, the Norman Lord, in battle at Credan in the north of what is now County Sligo in 1257 in which both were badly wounded - Fitzgerald immediately fatally so. Godfrey (also dying from his wounds) retired to a crannóg in Lough Beag (Gartan Lake). O'Neill of Tyrone - taking advantage of Godfrey's fatal illness - demanded submission, hostages and pledges from the Cenél Conaill since they had no strong chieftain since the wounding of Godfrey. Godfrey summoned his forces and led them himself, although he had to be carried on a litter (stretcher). O'Neill and his men were completely defeated by the Swilly in 1258. Godfrey died however after the battle as he was being carried through the town. He was buried in Conwall Cemetery. A cross-shaped coffin slab marks his grave to this day.

The receding of the waters of the Atlantic eastwards enabled progress, and with the building of bridges etc, the town of Letterkenny started to take the shape it has today. In the wake of the Plantation of Ulster (which began around 1609), when a 4 km² (1,000 acres) was granted to a Scotsman Patrick Crawford, the compact community formed.

The honour of formally launching the town fell to Sir George Marbury who married Patrick Crawford's widow - Crawford having died suddenly while on a return visit to his native Scotland. Initially there were possibly fifty simple habitations sited where the Oldtown is situated today.

The main streets, though now suffering traffic congestion, were simple pony tracks used by the hill farmers to come to the markets. The markets - started by Patrick Crawford with only a few animals - grew into much busier mart days of the recent past which are sadly not present today.

An ancient castle once stood near where St. Eunan's Cathedral stands today. Letterkenny Castle, built in 1625, was located south of Mount Southwell on Castle Street. Outlaw Redmond O' Hanlon found refuge there in 1690. No remains of the castle exist today.

During the Irish Rebellion of 1798, on 12 October, a large French force consisting of 3,000 men, and including Wolfe Tone attempted to land in County Donegal near Lough Swilly. They were intercepted by a large British Royal Navy force, and finally surrendered after a three hour battle without ever landing in Ireland. After Wolfe Tone was captured he was held for a short time at Laird's Hotel (opposite the Market Square) in the Main St. of Letterkenny before being transferred to the nearby Derry Gaol. He was later tried by court-martial in Dublin and found guilty. He committed suicide in prison.

In 1824, when the first description of Letterkenny as a modern town was written, it was stated that: "Within half a mile is the Port of Ballyraine, whither vessels of 100 tons bring iron, salt and colonial produce and whence they export hides and butter". Nothing remains now except the warehouses with the example of 19th century warehouse architecture.

Letterkenny achieved town status in the early 1920s following the partition of Ireland. When the Irish punt replaced the British Pound Sterling in Co. Donegal in 1928, many Irish banks that had been previously located in Derry (in Northern Ireland) opened branches in Letterkenny.

See also: Battle of Farsetmore and Battle of Scarrifholis

Demographics

The Market Square area of the town

The population of Letterkenny and environs is 17,723 (based on the 2006 census carried out by the CSO), of which 6,855 live inside the town limits and 10,868 live in the town's environs. The population of the town, if the current growth rate continues, is expected to reach 50,000 by 2020.

Letterkenny is the largest town in the County Donegal. Despite having a long tradition of emigration that continued up until the early 1990s, Letterkenny has gained cultural diversity over many years, with people immigrating from all over the world, particularly from Poland, Romania, Latvia and various African nations. This is reflected in the recent growth of international restaurants and shops, including Chinese and Indian restaurants, Italian pizzerias, as well as specialised shops run by and providing goods for Africans, Asians, South Americans, and Eastern Europeans.

The figures for ethnic and cultural background for people in the State in 2006 reveals that 16% of Letterkenny's population are non-nationals. The figures also show that most of Donegal's non-national population are living in the town. Of the town's total population 2,709 are non-nationals.

According to the 2006 census 4,957 people have a disability illness, 640 people have a registered disability, 537 have a chronic illness while 345 suffer from a psychological or an emotional condition.

Letterkenny is being quoted at 66/1 by Paddy Power Bookmakers to become the next town to be officially upgraded to a city by 2015.

Climate

Climate Table

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average daily maximum temperature (°C)	7	8	10	12	15	17	18	19	17	13	10	7	14
Average daily minimum temperature (°C)	3	3	4	4	6	9	11	12	9	7	5	3	7
Mean total rainfall (cm)	9.85	9.79	6.06	7.74	6.66	6.99	7.13	6.83	8.06	12.68	9.55	9.86	52.95
Source: MSN

Politics

Local

Letterkenny Courthouse.

Services such as waste disposal/recycling, maintenance of town parks, provision of social housing and traffic management are the remit of a nine member town council, elected by the town's electorate every four years. It is one of only four town councils in the Donegal County Council area. The make-up of the current town council following the last election was one Fine Gael, four Fianna Fáil, one Green Party, one Sinn Féin, one Independent Fianna Fáil and one Independent.

There has been some political change in Letterkenny Town Council's composition since the last elections in 2004. Fine Gael lost its only seat when Jimmy Harte resigned from them to become a non-party councillor and Independent Fianna Fáil amalgamated with Fianna Fáil as of 26 July 2006.

National

Letterkenny is part of the Donegal North East constituency of Dáil Éireann. There are three TDs (Teachtaí Dáil) in this constituency, with two, Jim McDaid of Fianna Fáil and Joe McHugh of Fine Gael, living in Letterkenny town environs. The other Dáil Éireann representative is Niall Blaney of Fianna Fáil, from Milford, an area about 13 km (8 mi) to the north of Letterkenny.

Architecture

Main article: Architecture of Letterkenny

St. Eunan's Cathedral dominates the Letterkenny skyline.

Many of the Letterkenny's more notable buildings were built in the early 1850s - or earlier. These include educational and ecclesiastical buildings. The town's tallest building is St. Eunan's Cathedral, which was completed in 1901. The Cathedral was designed by William Hague from County Cavan. It is built in a light Victorian neo-Gothic version of the French thirteenth-century Gothic style. The oldest building in the town is Conwal Parish Church, parts of which date from the eighteenth-century. It is opposite the Cathedral.

Another dominant building in the town is the historic St. Eunan's College. The College is a three-storey castelated structure with four round towers at each corner of the building. It was constructed in the Edwardian version of the neo-Hiberno-Romanesque style.

File:Georgian-house-lk.jpg

Mount Southwell Terrace

Other architecturally notable buildings can be found at Mount Southwell Terrace. This Georgian-style terrace of red brick was built in 1837 by Lord Southwell. It is located at the top of the Market Square, just off Castle Street, the terrace contains five of the most distinctive examples of Georgian houses in Letterkenny. Maud Gonne stayed here while on holiday in Donegal. St. Conal's Psychiatric Hospital is a large Victorian structure located on the High Road in the town. One of the most notable buildings in West Ulster, the oldest parts date from the 1860's. The hospital's chapel was built in neo-Norman style in the 1930's.

The Donegal County Museum is housed in the old workhouse and is located on the High Road. It was built in 1843 in the neo-Tudor style typical of this kind of building.

In more recent years, Letterkenny has seen more unusual architectural development. The new Letterkenny Town Council Offices, known locally as "The Grasshouse", were designed by Donegal-based Antoin MacGabhann Architects. One of its most notable features is its distinctive sloping grass roof situated above a broad band of aluka matt cladding although it is also noticeable for its runway-like ramp to the first-floor concourse. It is said to be a building of international interest.

See also: Public art in Letterkenny

Social

The town is a popular nightlife location for the local catchment area - especially at the weekends and particularly for visitors from Derry City and from across the rest of Ulster. The Main Street, originally the retail centre of the town, has become a centre for popular night clubs and pubs, but still also has the remnants of a shopping district. The Grill Music Venue is a popular nighclub which regularly plays host to acts such as Shane McGowan, Ash, Hot Chip, Dirty Sanchez, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Paul Van Dyk and Judge Jules. Club Voodoo is a bar and night-club on the Lower Main Street and has attracted acts such as Boy George over the years. Pubs such as The Central Bar (established 1808), The Cavern, Sister Sara's, Josie's Bar and The Cottage Bar give an extensive range of drinking experiences from the old to the modern cutting edge.

Media and the arts

Theatre

An Grianán Theatre

There is a large cinema complex in the town. Located on Canal Lane, Century Cinemas is an eight-screen cinema with full carparking facilities. An Grianán Theatre, the largest theatre in County Donegal with a seating capacity of 383. The Letterkenny Arts Centre provides a constant throughput of new blood. Recent additions to the arts infrastructure include modern additions to Letterkenny Library and Arts Centre and the Cristeph Gallery. Letterkenny Regional Cultural Centre, located behind An Grianán Theatre, opened on 9 July 2007. The town has an active music scene, which has produced bands such as Berkeley, The Slavs, Elroy and many more.

Festivals

The town proved it had the capacity to host major festivals by recently playing host to the annual Irish traditional music festival, the Fleadh Cheoil for two consecutive years. Both festivals were organised by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. The town has also hosted the international Pan Celtic Festival for two consecutive years (2006 and 2007). Celts from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Isle of Man, Brittany and Cornwall visited Letterkenny for the "craic agus ceoil". Along with the daily street performances on Market Square, An Grianán Theatre and The Courtyard Shopping Centre, song, fiddle, harp and dance contests also featured.

Events

Annual events include the:

• St. Patrick's Day Parade (March)
• North West 10K (May)
• Donegal International Car Rally (June)
• Earagail Arts Festival (July)
• Donegal Harvest Rally (October)

Media

Letterkenny can receive all national radio stations, television stations and cable and satellite services. The area can also receive many Northern Ireland stations, including C9TV, a local television station based in Derry. The national broadcaster RTE has a studio located in Ballyraine in the town.

The local radio station is Highland Radio which broadcasts from the town to north County Donegal, West Tyrone and the City of Derry. It began broadcasting in 1990.

The main regional newspaper in the town and county is the Donegal Democrat (owned by The Derry Journal), whose offices also prints two other titles every week - the Donegal People’s Press on Tuesday and also Donegal on Sunday. The three papers are printed at the company's print works in the heart of the town. The Donegal News is distributed on a Friday, as well as having a Monday edition, while the Tirconaill Tribune, printed in the town, is distributed throughout the county. The town also produces two freesheet newspapers, the Letterkenny People (previously the Letterkenny Listener), which is distributed on a Thursday, and the Letterkenny Post which prints on a Thursday night for Friday circulation.

Crime

Recent years have seen serious crimes in Letterkenny being linked with feuds between gangs within certain areas of the town, mainly the Mountain Top and Oldtown and the surrounding areas. Five separate incidents were reported over two months in 2005. In one such incident a man was seriously injured when attacked with pitchforks and slash hooks in the Mountain Top area of the town.

The Oldtown area has seen numerous feuds in recent years. This has led to feuds being dubbed ‘‘Battle of the Oldtown’’. In one incident a man was stabbed and another taken to hospital. The gangs used ninja-type weapons of chains and swords. They only calmed upon the intervention of a local priest. Eyewitnesses reported seeing stones and pots being throw through a house window. Daggers, knives, chains and rapier-type swords were later confiscated by gardaí.

Drugs has become a major problem in recent years. This was highlighted when one local drug supplier was shot in the stomach and left to die in a remote area. There have also been fears of a serial attacker operating in the town.

In recent years local community organizations, ranging from the local authority to local businesses have all set about addressing social issues. However this requires considerable time and co-operation to successfully implement.

Economy

Retail

File:LongestMainStreet.jpg

Letterkenny's Main Street

The retail trade in Letterkenny includes modern shopping centres and family owned local shops - often providing hand-made crafts.

Many High Street stores operate in Letterkenny. The town is the north-west regions major shopping centre and helps to serve outlying areas including rural County Donegal and Derry. The three main shopping malls are The Courtyard Shopping Centre, The Forte Shopping Centre and The Letterkenny Shopping Centre, the latter being the oldest. These centres feature numerous international and Irish chains such as Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Eason and others. There are also many other small centres such as the Glencar Shopping Centre and the Market Centre.

Previously, Main Street served as the main shopping area in the town but trade has now shifted further afield expanding the town in the process. The Main Street is home to many older establishments including R.McCullagh Jewellers, dating from 1869, and Speers Department Store. Newer shopping areas in the town include the Letterkenny Retail Parks on Pearse Street and Canal Lane. Smaller streets such as Church Street and Castle Street have grown in recent years with businesses such as bakeries, pharmacies and fashion outlets having opened. The Market Square has also attracted fresh business.

Industry

Traffic Congestion on Letterkenny's High Road

The town's major employers include the General Hospital (which grew from St. Conal's Psychiatric Hospital), Pramerica, and the Department of Social and Family Affairs, the latter having decentralised to the town in 1990, following a government decision to relocate 200 civil service jobs from Dublin.

Letterkenny is at the centre of industry in the north west of Ireland. Eircom, Boston Scientific and Pacificare are significant employers in the region. As the main commercial centre of north Donegal, Letterkenny also has a host of financial service institutions, legal firms and small businesses. There has been a significant decline in the manufacturing base, however employment has grown in the service sector. Since 2002 there has been a significant expansion in the retail sector. Allied to this growth has been the development of the cultural infrastructure. This includes the opening of An Grianan Theatre and the development of a new arts centre.

Letterkenny is also the home of the confectionery manufacturers Oatfield. It is based at the entrance to Ballyraine near the town's central area .

A private hospital, which is to provide radiotherapy services to the northwest region, is currently under construction. Construction of the first independent hospital in the county will cost €60 million. The hospital will provide four surgical theatres, renal dialysis and an MRI and PET scan. The 12,000 m² (130,000 sq ft) Wyndale Clinic is due to be completed in 2008.

The economy in the town is strongly dependent on cross-border trade, and times of economic boom are determined mostly by the currency exchange rate between the Euro and the British Pound.

Education

Letterkenny Institute of Technology

The Letterkenny Institute of Technology [1] (LYIT), which is situated east of the town centre on the Port Road, is a centre for engineering, information technology, materials science, design, business and nursing humanities. The institute has a student population of 3000.

St. Eunan's College is a major secondary education centre in Letterkenny. Situated just north-west of the town centre, it was built in 1906.

Primary and secondary education in the town is organised similarly to the rest of Ireland. There are 37 primary schools in Letterkenny, including Scoil Colmcille, while there are 5 secondary schools.

Coláiste Ailigh is one of the "gaelscoileanna" in Letterkenny. It is a secondary school specifically designed for education through the Irish language. It was opened in 2000.

The Loreto Convent Secondary School, adjacent to St. Eunan's Cathedral, is over 150 years old.

Sport

See also: List of Letterkenny people - Sports

Letterkenny has a modern community purpose-built leisure and sports complex, comprising of a swimming pool , football pitches (both natural grass and astroturf), as well as sports halls. Gaelic football, rugby and soccer are the most popular sports in the town, but many other minority sports are practiced also, such as hurling, boxing, karate, kick-boxing, handball, bowling, golf, swimming and gymnastics.

Gaelic games

Main articles: Donegal GAA and St. Eunan's GAA

There are two Gaelic Athletic Association clubs in Letterkenny, St. Eunan's GAA and Letterkenny Gaels who play their home games at O' Donnell Park and The Glebe, respectively. Almost uniquely in Ireland, the rugby club and Gaelic club Letterkenny Gaels, share facilities. Gaelic football, like most of County Donegal, is the predominant sport, although soccer is also very popular.

Rugby

Rugby is also popular in the town, being played at various levels, from school to senior league level. Letterkenny RFC, which was founded in 1973, is the major rugby club in the town. It has recently forged links with New Zealand rugby fraternities due to the fact the first All-Black captain, Dave Gallaher was born in Ramelton, a village eight miles (13 km) from Letterkenny. The club's rugby ground in Letterkenny was named The Dave Gallaher Memorial Park in his honour in November 2005 by a visiting contingent of All-Black players, led by captain Tana Umaga.

Association football

Letterkenny Rovers F.C. are one of the most well-known soccer clubs in the town. The team play their home games at Leckview Park, at Canal Road, in the town. Bonagee United F.C. are another local team and play their home games at Dry Arch Park. There are a number of schoolboy soccer clubs within the town's environs and an annual league is played at Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16 age groups.

Other sports

Letterkenny has two mens basketball teams, Letterkenny Heat and Letterkenny IT, as well as a womans basketball team, Letterkenny Blaze. Letterkenny Golf Club is located just outside the town centre. There are also pitch and putt and tennis facilities in the town. Letterkenny Sports Complex, a state of the art leisure centre complete with skate park, is located on the edge of the town. Letterkenny Athletic Club is also located in the town. The town also hosts the Donegal International Rally in June every year and the Donegal Harvest Rally every October. There is a campaign being run by local councillor's for the construction of a horse racing track and facilities on land at the Big Isle, on the outskirts of the town.

Transport

Letterkenny Infrastructure Hub & Midlands Gateway access

Air

The nearest airport is City of Derry Airport, which is located about 48 km (30 mi) to the east at Eglinton. There are daily flights to London (Stansted), Dublin, Glasgow, Liverpool and Nottingham (East Midlands).

Donegal Airport (locally known as Carrickfinn Airport) is also less than an hour away, located to the west in The Rosses. Aer Arann provide two flights daily from Donegal Airport to Dublin and flights daily to Glasgow (Prestwick).

The nearest major international airport to Letterkenny is Belfast International Airport (popularly known as Aldergrove Airport), located to the south-east at Aldergrove, near Antrim Town, in County Antrim.

1906 Irish Rail Infrastructure (including Letterkenny station)

Rail

See also: History of Irish rail.

The town was, in times past, connected with the once extensive narrow gauge rail network of County Donegal. This provided connections to Derry (and through there to Dublin and Belfast), to Lifford and Strabane, to Gweedore and Burtonport, and to Carndonagh, north of Derry. The rail system was built in the late 19th century, with the last extensions opening in the 1900s. Some of these lines were never profitable, built using British government subsidies, described as an attempt to kill the Home Rule movement "with kindness". Only a couple of decades later, political events resulted in rail companies operating across two jurisdictions where there had previously been one. This had devastating effects on an already fragile economic situation, resulting eventually in the final closure of all parts of the rail system in the area by 1960.

Today , the closest railway station to County Donegal is Waterside station in the nearby City of Derry. This station is owned and run by Northern Ireland Railways (N.I.R.) and runs - via Coleraine - to Belfast.

Road

Letterkenny is well served by road transport. Bus Éireann operates a number of bus services from its bus depot to Dublin, Derry and Galway a number of times each day. Many private coach companies have daily services to and from the town. The Lough Swilly Bus company operates a local transport service in cooperation with Bus Éireann. Currently, access from Dublin is improving with motorway status roads being constructed along the route, allowing cars to complete the Dublin-Letterkenny journey in about 3hours 30mins. Galway is 4 hours away by car while Belfast is 2 hours. Taxi services are available from a rank on Main St. at The Market Square. Two national primary roads serve the town: the N13 from the South (Stranorlar) and the N14 from the West (Lifford).

Youth facilities

A number of youth groups provide services and support within Letterkenny.

The Loft LK (Learning Opportunities For Teens) is located on Port Road on a site previously occupied by the old cinema. Opened in April 2006, the LOFT provides a supervised meeting environment, offering music, computer games, satellite TV, a pool table, and other amenities. Band nights, a film club, and other social events are sometimes hosted. The LOFT offers courses in media studies, health, leadership, writing, arts and crafts, sign Language, teambuilding, photography and personal development.

The Youth Information Centre (YIC) is located in the same building as the LOFT. It offers computers and broadband facilities as well as information that may be of interest to young people.

Letterkenny Youth Theatre is run in association with An Grianán Theatre and usually meets on Fridays. It offers young people the opportunity to gain experience in acting and stage management. It has run a number of small one-off productions and ran productions in early 2007 in An Grianán.

Sister cities

The following places are twinned with Letterkenny:

• Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, United States [2].
• Wielun, Poland [3]
• Derry, Northern Ireland [4],

See also

• Template:Wikitravel
• Public art in Letterkenny
• List of Letterkenny People
• List of venues for All Ireland Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann (Letterkenny 2005 & 2006)
• List of Donegal people
• List of towns in the Republic of Ireland
• Market Houses in the Republic of Ireland

External links

• Letterkenny Town Council
• Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Map of Letterkenny
• Letterkenny Institute of Technology
• Letterkenny Music & Drama
• Letterkenny Directory 1910
• Letterkenny Community Centre
• Aerial Photo of Letterkenny