townland
A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...
(of 650 acres) in the south of
County Donegal
County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. It lies 6 km from
Donegal Town
Donegal ( ; , "fort of the foreigners") is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. The name was also historically spelt 'Dunnagall'. Although Donegal gave its name to the county, now Lifford is the county town. From the 15th until the early 17th ce ...
on the
Killybegs
Killybegs () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is the largest fishing port in the country and on the island of Ireland. It is located on the south coast of the county, north of Donegal Bay, near Donegal Town. Its Irish name ''Na Cealla ...
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
of
Inver
Inver () is a small village in County Donegal, Ireland. It lies on the N56 National secondary road midway between Killybegs to the west and Donegal Town to the east. It is also a civil parish in the historic barony of Banagh.
History
Inve ...
and the historic
barony Barony may refer to:
* Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron
* Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron
* Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...
of
Banagh
Banagh ( ga, Báinigh) is a historic barony in County Donegal in Ireland.
Patrick Weston Joyce said the name ''Banagh'' came from Enna Bogaine, son of Conall Gulban, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages.
It was created along with Boylagh when th ...
. The village's name is usually pronounced locally as 'Mount-char-liss'.
Name
Before the Plantation of Ulster, the area from the present N56 to the sea, including modern day Salthill, was known as ''Tamhnach an tSalainn'' ('the Field of Salt'). This refers to the fields along the coast which flooded with seawater with the flow of the tide, as the water receded, salt remnants remained in the fields.
The Irish name for the village refers to this
salt mine
Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite (commonly known as rock salt), and extracted from evaporite formations.
History
Before the advent of the modern internal combustio ...
in the area which local people worked in, and at a growing rate, as the salt extraction rate was increased by the plantation founder, Charles Conyngham. The name was later anglicized as ''Tawnaghtallan'' and ''Tawnytallan''.
Whereupon English became the only language permitted for placenames in Ireland, the Cistercian Grange in the area was known as the Grange of Tawnytallon which led to the area being anglicised as ''Tawnaghtallan'' and ''Tawnytallan''.
The English name for the village owes its origin to the Scottish
plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
'undertaker', Charles Conyngham, who arrived in
County Donegal
County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...
landlord
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the ...
control over the area, renaming the region '' Mount Charles'' after himself. He is the ancestor of The 8th Marquess Conyngham (frequently, if inaccurately, known as 'Lord Henry Mountcharles') of
Slane Castle
Slane Castle (Irish ''Cáisleán Bhaile Shláine'') is located in the village of Slane, within the Boyne Valley of County Meath, Ireland. The castle has been the family seat of the Conyngham family since it was built in the late 18th century, on ...
,
County Meath
County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...
. By controlling the sale of salt from the region, Charles Conyngham then financed the building of the few surviving buildings in the village in the 17th century. The Conyngham estate and its large estate house (Hall Demesne), close to the village, are now unoccupied. The courtesy title of the
heir apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
Earl
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...
of Mount Charles'', being named after the village.
Alternatively, the origin of the modern name, Mountcharles, is from the 1660s. Albert Conyngham, son of Rev. Alexander Conyngham (
Dean of Raphoe
The Dean of Raphoe is based at the Cathedral Church of St Eunan, Raphoe, County Donegal, Ulster in the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe within the Church of Ireland. The Deanery is currently vacant since January 2021.
List of deans
*1603 John Albr ...
), was knighted by Charles II in 1666, and, in honour of the king, the plantation founders, the Conyngham's enforced the name change to Mountcharles.
History
In 1611, at the start of the Plantation of Ulster, The Rev. Alexander Conyngham, first
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...
Rector of Inver and Killymard, took ownership over the area, designating the area near the present Hall House as his own.
The village of Mountcharles was controlled by the Conyngham family thereafter. In 1676 Mountcharles was granted the sole right to hold markets and fairs: "Mountcharles, alias Tounytallon, a Friday market and four fairs on the 19th May, 11th September, 11th November and 17th March. Pursuant to patent signed and dated at Whitehall 9th December 1675 – granted to Sir Albert Conyngham, Kt. – July 27th 1676". The courtesy title of the
heir apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
Earl
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...
of Mount Charles'', is named after the village.
Arthur Young, noted agriculturist and social and political observer, mentioned visiting Mountcharles in his book ''A Tour of Ireland (1776-1779)''.
Pre-Famine Mountcharles
The early houses were built with stone, which was quarried near St. Peter’s Lough and at the quarries behind the town. The early houses were thatched. According to both the 1841 Census and Lewis’
Topographical Dictionary of Ireland
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.
Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...
, Mountcharles was the only town in the parish pre-Famine times.
Hall Demesne
The former country house of the Conyngham family, The Hall, is nearby the village. From the beginning of the 18th century the Conynghams no longer regarded Mountcharles as their principal seat, but
Slane
Slane () is a village in County Meath, in Ireland. The village stands on a steep hillside on the left bank of the River Boyne at the intersection of the N2 ( Dublin to Monaghan road) and the N51 (Drogheda to Navan road). As of the 2016 cen ...
. It was sold by The 6th
Marquess Conyngham
Marquess Conyngham, of the County of Donegal, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1816 for Henry Conyngham, 1st Earl Conyngham. He was the great-nephew of another Henry Conyngham, 1st Earl Conyngham, a member of a family of ...
immediately after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, in 1946, to pay for the installation of electricity in
Slane Castle
Slane Castle (Irish ''Cáisleán Bhaile Shláine'') is located in the village of Slane, within the Boyne Valley of County Meath, Ireland. The castle has been the family seat of the Conyngham family since it was built in the late 18th century, on ...
,
Co. Meath
County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the s ...
.
Politics
Mountcharles gave its name to the Electoral Division of Mountcharles (Mountcharles DED) from 1850 to around 1956 but this Electoral Division was renamed to Tantallon in the late 1950s and statistically enumerated as such from the 1961 Census. Mountcharles is part of the five-seat Donegal constituency.
Transport
Mountcharles railway station
Mountcharles railway station served Mountcharles in County Donegal, Ireland.
The station opened on 18 August 1893 on the Donegal Railway Company line from Donegal Donegal may refer to:
County Donegal, Ireland
* County Donegal, a county in the ...
was on a branch line of the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee, a narrow gauge railway system. It was opened on 18 August 1893 and shut on 1 January 1960.
Amenities
The village has one general shop on the Main Street. A fishmongers, a local butchers, a post office, a pharmacy and local tea rooms. The area also hosts a pilates and yoga centre as well as a massage therapist, a beauticians, several hairdressers and a barber shop. There are two bars on the main street.
Sport
The village has a Gaelic games pitch that belongs to the local club Saint Naul's (Irish: ''Naomh Naile'') and a nearby a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club, Eany Celtic F.C. In 2013, the Mountcharles Rowing Club was established.
Notable people
*
Cahir Healy
Cahir Healy (2 December 1877 – 8 February 1970) was an Irish politician.
Background
Born in Mountcharles in County Donegal, he became a journalist working on various local papers. He joined Sinn Féin on its foundation in 1905. He later cam ...
, politician
*
Seumas MacManus
Seumas MacManus (31 December 1867 – 23 October 1960) was an Irish author, dramatist, and poet known for his ability to reinterpret Irish folktales for modern audiences.
Biography
Born James McManus on 31 December 1867 in Mountcharles, County ...