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