or (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

name: Burtonport) is a fishing village about northwest of Dungloe in The Rosses district 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. The main employers in the village were the Burtonport Fishermen's Co-op and the '' Bord Iascaigh Mhara'' (BIM; Irish Sea Fisheries Board) ice plant; but these have both since closed and their former premises were demolished in 2021 as part of a seafront environment upgrade scheme.

History

Burtonport was developed by Marquess of Conyngham as a rival to another planned village on

Rutland Island Rutland Island is an island of the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the South Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The island is located south from Port Blair. History The island u ...

. A plaque in the village commemorates the brief landing on the nearby Rutland Island of a French military force led by

James Napper Tandy James Napper Tandy (February 1739 – 24 August 1803) was a United Irishmen, United Irishman who experienced exile, first in the United States and then in republic of France, France, for his role in attempting to advance a republican insurrectio ...

in a failed attempt to assist rebels during the

1798 rebellion The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a Irish republicanism, ...

on 16 September 1798. St Columba's Church dates from 1899. In 1974, a commune called Atlantis Primal Therapy Commune was established in Burtonport by Jenny James. The commune, which came to be known as "The Screamers" for its practice of

primal therapy Primal therapy is a trauma-based psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov, who argues that neurosis is caused by the repressed pain of childhood trauma. Janov argues that repressed pain can be sequentially brought to conscious awareness for resolutio ...

, moved to the island of Inishfree in 1980. From 1982 to 1992 Burtonport was the home of the

Silver Sisterhood The Silver Sisterhood was a new religious movement that was active in Burtonport, County Donegal, Ireland from 1982 to 1992. The group has also been referred to as the Rhennish Community and St. Bride's. English writer Miss Martindale was a promi ...

, a

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or th ...

. Members believed that God was a woman.

Transport

As the mainland

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

for both the

Arranmore ''Árainn Mhór'' (English name: Arranmore) is an island off the west coast of County Donegal, Ireland. Arranmore is the largest inhabited island of County Donegal, with a population of 469 in 2016, but has had a gradually falling native popula ...

car

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

services, Burtonport receives some passing tourist traffic. Burtonport had a railway service from Letterkenny between 1903 and 1940 provided by the Letterkenny & Burtonport Extension Railway (L&BER), a company jointly owned by the State and the

Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway The Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company (The L&LSR, the Swilly) was an Irish public transport and freight company that operated in parts of County Londonderry and County Donegal between 1853 and 2014. Incorporated in June 1853, it on ...

(L&LSR).

Burtonport railway station Burtonport railway station served the fishing village of Burtonport in County Donegal, Ireland. The station opened on 9 March 1903 when the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway opened their Letterkenny and Burtonport Extension Railway, from L ...

opened on 9 March 1903, but finally closed on 3 June 1940.

People

* Packie Bonner, football goalkeeper, is from the area around Burtonport. * Joseph Duffy, martial artist and UFC fighter, is from Burtonport. * Pat "the Cope" Gallagher, Fianna Fáil politician, was born in Burtonport. * Peadar O'Donnell, novelist, leftist, and prominent IRA activist from the 1920-1930s era, was born in Burtonport. * Major-General Joe Sweeney, Irish military commander and politician who served as both an MP and as a TD, was born and raised in Burtonport.

References

{{County Donegal Towns and villages in County Donegal The Rosses Gaeltacht places in County Donegal Gaeltacht towns and villages Port cities and towns in the Republic of Ireland Fishing in Ireland Planned communities in the Republic of Ireland

History

Transport

People

See also

References