Ramelton (; ), also Rathmelton, is a town and townland in County Donegal, Ireland. , its population was 1,266.

History

Ramelton is situated at the mouth of the

River Lennon The River Lennon or Leannan ( ga, An Leanainn) is a river in County Donegal, Ireland. Course The River Lennon rises in the Glendowan Mountains and flows through Gartan Lough and Lough Fern. It continues through Kilmacrennan and enters Lou ...

, 11 km north of Letterkenny and 4 km south of Milford, on the western shores of

Lough Swilly Lough Swilly () in Ireland is a glacial fjord or sea inlet lying between the western side of the Inishowen Peninsula and the Fanad Peninsula, in County Donegal. Along with Carlingford Lough and Killary Harbour it is one of three glacial fjords ...

. The town is named from ''Ráth Mealtain'', (Irish for "the fort of Mealtan"), an early Gaelic chieftain. The fort is said to lie under the ruins of a medieval castle of the

O'Donnell The O'Donnell dynasty ( ga, Ó Dónaill or ''Ó Domhnaill,'' ''Ó Doṁnaill'' ''or Ua Domaill;'' meaning "descendant of Dónal") were the dominant Irish clan of the kingdom of Tyrconnell, Ulster, in medieval Ireland. Naming conventions Or ...

s, the ruling family of West Donegal before their exile to mainland Europe in 1607. Ramelton was settled by English and Scots planters during the Ulster Plantation of the 17th century and is the site of the oldest Presbyterian church in Ireland.

Facilities

Ramelton is serviced by many shops and services within the town. The Town Hall in Ramelton was built in the late 19th century and still has a vital role in the community today. The town has many grocery stores including Kernan's Spar Supermarket, Whoriskey's Eurospar and McFadden's Supermarket. The town has three main churches: St. Mary's Catholic Church, St. Paul's Church of Ireland (Parish of Tullyaughnish), and the Presbyterian Church. The town is served by a private bus service which serves Ramelton from Mondays to Saturdays to and from Letterkenny, the largest town in County Donegal. Three buses leave Ramelton for Letterkenny each day Monday to Saturday, with two buses leaving Letterkenny for Ramelton.

Music and Sport

The town is home to a marching band which frequently wins prizes in the Miscellaneous Marching Bands (Buíon Rogha Gléas) category of the All-Ireland Fleadh. Swilly Rovers Football Club is based in the town. It was founded in 1929. It also has a tennis club.

Other

The town is home to McDaid's soft drinks manufacturer whose drinks are sold throughout Donegal and further afield. Its most famous drink is the Football Special which was originally produced to celebrate the successes of Swilly Rovers Football Club. The town was the setting for the 1995 television serial '' The Hanging Gale'', which told of the Great Famine of the 19th century. Ramelton is also a key setting for the A.E.W. Mason novel

The Four Feathers ''The Four Feathers'' is a 1902 adventure novel by British writer A. E. W. Mason that has inspired many films of the same title. In December 1901, ''Cornhill Magazine'' announced the title as one of two new serial stories to be published in t ...

. The town hosts the Lennon Festival, a village fair, since 1970. Ramelton is a

Fáilte Ireland Fáilte Ireland is the operating name of the National Tourism Development Authority of the Republic of Ireland. This authority was established under the National Tourism Development Authority Act of 2003 and replaces and builds upon the function ...

designated Heritage Town. The town is also the setting for Django Sur Lennon gypsy jazz festival which has been held in the town since 2015 and has featured gypsy jazz musicians from Europe and beyond.

Notable people

* Catherine Black, private nurse to King George V *

Robert E. Bonner Robert Edwin Bonner (April 28, 1824 – July 6, 1899) was an American publisher, now best known for '' The New York Ledger'', a weekly story newspaper. He owned famous trotting horses and he was a prominent supporter of the Presbyterian Church a ...

, American publisher, born Ramelton * William C. Campbell, scientist, Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine in 2015 * Will Carruthers, writer and musician with Spacemen 3,

Spiritualized Spiritualized (stylised as Spiritualized®) are an English rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Jason Pierce (often known as J. Spaceman), formerly of Spacemen 3. After several line up-changes, in 1999, the band centered on Pier ...

and

The Brian Jonestown Massacre The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American musical project and band led and started by Anton Newcombe. It was formed in San Francisco in 1990. The group was the subject of the 2004 documentary film called '' Dig!'', and have gained media not ...

Patsy Gallacher Patrick Gallacher (16 March 1891 – 17 June 1953) was an Irish footballer, playing in the inside-right position, and most noted for his career at Celtic - he is one of the club's leading goalscorers of all time. Early life Patsy was born i ...

, association football player with

Celtic F.C The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigran ...

Dave Gallaher David Gallaher (30October 1873 – 4October 1917) was an Irish-born New Zealand rugby union footballer best remembered as the captain of the " Original All Blacks"—the 1905–06 New Zealand national team, the first representative New Zealan ...

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

rugby captain, author and WW1 soldier * Roy Greenslade *

Arthur Gwynn Arthur Percival Gwynn (11 June 1874 – 14 February 1898) was an Irish cricketer and rugby union player. Life Arthur Percival Gwynn was born in Ramelton, County Donegal, Ireland, the fifth son of the Very Rev John Gwynn D.D. and Jose ...

, cricket and rugby union player *

Edward Gwynn Edward John Gwynn ( Donegal 1 April 1868 – 10 February 1941 Dublin) was an Irish scholar of Old Irish and Celtic literature, Provost of Trinity College Dublin from 1927 to 1937 and President of the Royal Irish Academy from 1934 to 1937. Bi ...

, scholar of Old Irish and Celtic literature *

John Tudor Gwynn John Tudor ("Jack") Gwynn, CIE, ICS (13 November 1881 – 17 May 1956) was an Irish-born British civil servant in India and cricketer. Early life and cricket career The seventh son of the Very Rev John Gwynn D.D. and Lucy Josephine O’Brien ...

, cricket player *

Lucius Gwynn Lucius Henry Gwynn (5 May 1873 – 23 December 1902) was an Irish academic and sportsman who was noted for his prowess in both rugby union football and cricket. Life Lucius Gwynn was one member of a family well known in the Dublin of his time ...

, cricket and rugby union player *

Robert Gwynn Robert Malcolm Gwynn (26 April 1877 – 25 June 1962) was a Church of Ireland clergyman and academic whose entire working life was spent at Trinity College Dublin. In his youth he was also an outstanding cricketer. Several of Robin Gwynn' ...

, cricket player *

Conrad Logan Conrad Joseph Logan (born 18 April 1986) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Anstey Nomads. Logan joined the Leicester City academy in 2001, making his professional debut in 2005. He largely served Leicester as a ...

, professional footballer *

Francis Makemie Francis Makemie (1658–1708) was an Ulster Scots clergyman, considered to be the founder of Presbyterianism in the United States of America. Early and family life Makemie was born in Ramelton, County Donegal, Ireland (part of the Province o ...

, clergyman, the founder of Presbyterianism in the United States * William McAdoo, American Democratic Party politician *

Basil McCrea Basil McCrea (born 13 November 1959) is a former Northern Irish politician. He was the party leader of NI21 from 2013 until it disbanded in 2016. He was also a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Valley from 2007 to 2016. ...

, MLA, Leader of

NI21 NI21 was a short-lived political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 2013 by ex-Ulster Unionist Party MLAs Basil McCrea and John McCallister. Although it explicitly supported Northern Ireland staying part of the United Kingdom (i.e. ...

in the Northern Ireland Assembly *

Anne-Marie McDaid Anne-Marie McDaid is an Irish rower from Ramelton, Co. Donegal. She represented Ireland in the 2012 Summer Paralympics, where they came tenth in the mixed coxed four. She was part of the team that came fifth at both the 2010 World Rowing Champio ...

, rower and paralympian. * Walter Patterson, first British Governor of Prince Edward Island

References

External links

{{County Donegal Towns and villages in County Donegal Rathmelton