Dunkineely () is a small village and

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 ...

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 Tyrcon ...

, Ireland. It is situated from the town of

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

and from

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 ...

on the N56

National secondary road A national secondary road ( ga, Bóthar Náisiúnta den Dara Grád) is a category of road in Ireland. These roads form an important part of the national route network but are secondary to the main arterial routes which are classified as national ...

. It is a small single street village with a population of around 300 in its surroundings. There is a dun on the edge of the village from which Dunkineely derives its name. The village lies at the top of St John's Point, a narrow

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on a ...

jutting seven miles into Donegal Bay. Dunkineely lies at approximately above sea level. It is the larger of two villages in the parish of Killaghtee, the other being

Bruckless Bruckless () is a tiny village in southwest Donegal, Ireland, with a population of around 69. It lies on the N56 national secondary road which links it to Donegal Town 20 km east and to Killybegs 7 km west. The village overlooks '' ...

, now the location of the Roman Catholic parish church. Nearby is the ancient parish church of Killaghtee. In the old graveyard there is one of the oldest Celtic crosses in Ireland, the Killaghtee Cross. The population is a mix of Roman Catholic and

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

(

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

and

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 sec ...

). Employment in the area relies on seasonal fishing and mixed agriculture as well as service and light industry in the nearby towns of Killybegs and Donegal town.

Facilities

The town has two local industries in the village that comprises a fish processing factory and architectural design and fabrication factory. Services in Dunkineely include a shop, cafe, car dealership, a fishing tackle shop/florist, John's barber shop, auctioneers, 3 bars (Mac's Bar, Mac Laughlin's Bar, McIntyre's Bar), a radio communications shop and a budget accommodation hostel. There are several B&B's in the locality. McIntyre's bar hosts a weekly Irish traditional music session. There is also a National School, Community Centre, GAA pitch and soccer pitch.

Sport

The local

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

club is named Naomh Ultan. The local football team is Dunkineely Celtic.

Transport

Dunkineely railway station opened on 18 August 1893, and closed on 1 January 1960. Dunkineely lies on the main N56 road between Donegal Town and

. A regular bus service operates along this route.

Festival

Every year in the month of July or August the town hosts a 3-day weekend Summer Street Festival. Events over the years have included a parade through the town, soap box derby races, live bands, pub quizzes, sporting competitions, classic car show, wheelie bin races and digger and tractor driving competitions.

Famous people

Brian Goold-Verschoyle Brian Goold-Verschoyle (5 June 1912 – 5 January 1942) was an Irish member of the Communist Party of Great Britain who was recruited by the Soviet NKVD as a courier between its moles and their handlers in London. After being sent as a radio tech ...

(1912-1942) - spy for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and victim of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the State Political Directorate, GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= ...

. One of three

Irish people The Irish ( ga, Muintir na hÉireann or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common history and culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has bee ...

to lose their lives as part of the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secreta ...

. * Joseph Brennan (1912-1980) - former TD and

Ceann Comhairle The (; "Head of heCouncil"; plural usually ) is the chairperson (or speaker) of , the lower house of the (parliament) of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the from among their number in the first session a ...

References

External links

Dunkineely town page
{{County Donegal Towns and villages in County Donegal Townlands of County Donegal