Moville (; ) is a coastal town located on the
Inishowen
Inishowen () is a peninsula in the north of County Donegal in Ireland. Inishowen is the largest peninsula on the island of Ireland.
The Inishowen peninsula includes Ireland's most northerly point, Malin Head. The Grianan of Aileach, a ringfort ...
Peninsula 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 Tyrconn ...
,
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 ...
, close to the northern tip of the
island of Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
. It is the first coastal town of the
Wild Atlantic Way
The Wild Atlantic Way ( ga, Slí an Atlantaigh Fhiáin) is a tourism trail on the west coast, and on parts of the north and south coasts, of Ireland. The 2,500 km (1,553 mile) driving route passes through nine counties and three provinces, s ...
when starting on the northern end.
Location
The town is located on the western shore of
Lough Foyle, approximately from
Derry, which lies across the border in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. Features include Moville Green, a pier, a large seaside park in the Victorian style which features bandstands, walking trails, playgrounds, a coastal footpath and views east across the waters of the lough to Northern Ireland. Moville is close to several beaches, and receives visitors and daytrippers in the summer months.
Moville Community College
Moville Community College is a secondary school based in Carrownaff, Moville, County Donegal, Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwes ...
is located to the south of the town centre, in the
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 Carrownaff.
History
In the second half of the 19th century, Moville was a point of embarkation for travellers, especially emigrants, to
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and the
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
. In the late 19th century, steamships of the Glasgow-based
Anchor Line and
Allan Line
The Allan Shipping Line was started in 1819, by Captain Alexander Allan of Saltcoats, Ayrshire, trading and transporting between Scotland and Montreal, a route which quickly became synonymous with the Allan Line. By the 1830s the company had off ...
made port at Moville while en route to and from New York, while just after the turn of the 20th century, the
Canadian Pacific Line also established a terminal at the port as part of their service connecting Liverpool and
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
for Canadian-bound Irish immigrants. Today, the town receives little maritime traffic but retains a small fishing harbour. The commercial fishing port at
Greencastle lies a few miles away.
The ancestors of Field-Marshal
Bernard Montgomery, the Montgomerys of New Park, were a
landed family
The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical Social structure of the United Kingdom#History, British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a Estate (land), country estate. Whil ...
of the town. When flying over the town in 1947 he commented: "It looks just the same. My dear old Irish home". His grandfather
Robert Montgomery had built Montgomery Terrace in 1884.
Festivals
An annual
regatta is held at Moville every year in August, and has done so since early in the 19th century.
Several music festivals take place in the area annually, including a festival of
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
music (DylanFest) which has taken place since 2007, and a festival of
Beatles' music (BeatlesFest) which takes place in the town square in August.
Notable people
*
Robert Montgomery (1809-1887) - British colonial administrator;
Lieutenant Governor of Punjab
*
Sheila McClean
Sheila McClean, RUA, (13 August 1932 – 5 August 2016) was an Irish painter, whose work was in the impressionist style.
Life and work
Sheila McClean was originally from Moville, County Donegal, Ireland and attended Thornhill College in Der ...
(1932-2016) - painter
*
Art Parkinson
Art Parkinson (born 19 October 2001) is an Irish actor from Moville in Inishowen, County Donegal, in Ireland. He began his professional acting career at the age of seven. He is best known for his role as Rickon Stark on the HBO series ''Game of ...
(born 2001) - actor
Gallery
File:Moville, Co. Donegal - geograph.org.uk - 51148.jpg, Maguire's Pub, established 1871.
File:Moville Malin Road 2019 08 28.jpg, Malin Road, Moville
File:CarrickaroryPier 2004 SeanMcClean.jpg, Carrickarory Pier at night - Lights of Magilligan prison on left.
File:MovilleGreen.jpg, View of Moville's Green and Lough Foyle coast
File:Moville Church of Saint Pius X 2014 09 10.jpg, Roman Catholic Parish Church of St. Pius X with a dodecagonal lantern, built in the 1950s
References
{{Authority control
Towns and villages in County Donegal
Populated coastal places in the Republic of Ireland