Rathmullan

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Rathmullan Beach

Rathmullan ( Irish : Ráth Maoláin ) is a place (English village ) in County Donegal in the north of the Republic of Ireland .

The place

Rathmullan is located in the southeast of the Fanad Peninsula on the west coast of Lough Swilly , in the northeast of County Donegal. On the eastern side of Lough Swilly, Buncrana is opposite it on the Inishowen Peninsula . The nearest major town is Milford , 12 km to the west; Rathmullan is 17 miles away from Letterkenny in the southwest. The population of Rathmullan / Rathmullen, which has been relatively stable at around 500 since 1991, was determined in the 2016 census to be 493.

history

Southwest view of the Carmelite Monastery

Rathmullan is home to the ruins of a Carmelite monastery built in 1516 which was pillaged by the English in 1595 before being occupied by one of the bishops of Raphoe in 1617 . There was once a council on the monastery grounds , an Iron Age earthwork , which is already indicated in the place name.

Rathmullan gained fame above all in connection with historical events: In September 1607, during the so-called Flight of the Earls, the two earls Aodh Mór Ó Néill and Rory O'Donnell left Ireland with 90 relatives and followers on the run from the British from Rathmullan. In 1798, Wolfe Tone , founder of the Society of United Irishmen and a leader in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 , was captured , possibly in Rathmullan; however, Buncrana and Letterkenny claim this event as well.

Rathmullan was also important as a base for English American sailors in the 18th century, and later as an international trading center for salt herring.

During the Napoleonic Wars at the beginning of the 19th century, an English battery was stationed in Rathmullan to protect Lough Swilly against a possible French invasion. In the Martello Tower , which was built at the time, the Flight of the Earls Center is now housed with a permanent exhibition.

present

Today, as in many other places in Donegal, tourism is one of the town's main sources of income, to which several festival dates each year contribute: In spring or early summer there is the Lough Swilly Deep Sea Fishing Festival and in July the Rathmullan Community Festival , while the Rathmullan Regatta Festival takes place on the first of each year Takes place Monday in August. In the tourist season, a ferry across Lough Swilly connects Buncrana with Rathmullan.

In parliamentary terms, Rathmullan belongs to Donegal North-East .

Web links

Commons : Rathmullan  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Map of Ireland (can be enlarged greatly)
  2. ↑ The spelling Rathmullen also occurs occasionally .
  3. ↑ Rathmullen (Town) on citypopulation.de, accessed on October 13, 2017
  4. ↑ The Martello Tower in Rathmullan (picture 4) on discoverireland.ie

Coordinates: 55 ° 6 ′  N , 7 ° 32 ′  W