Fahan (; ) is a district of

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 ...

in the north 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 Tyrcon ...

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 ...

, located 5 km (3 miles) south of

Buncrana Buncrana ( ; ) is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is beside Lough Swilly on the Inishowen peninsula, northwest of Derry and north of Letterkenny. In the 2016 census, the population was 6,785 making it the second most populous town in ...

. In Irish, Fahan is named after its

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

, Saint Mura, first

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

of Fahan, an early Christian

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

History

The walled graveyard, located west of the

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically o ...

, contains the grave of pioneering

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

Agnes Jones Agnes Elizabeth Jones (1832 – 1868) of Fahan, County Donegal, Ireland became the first trained Nursing Superintendent of Liverpool Workhouse Infirmary. She gave all her time and energy to her patients and died at the age of 35 from ty ...

, the ruins of a 6th-century monastery featuring a 7th-century cross-slab of St. Mura, and the ruins of a 16th-century monastery and 17th-century church together with a number of grave slabs bearing coats of arms. The monastery and village were sacked by

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

in the 10th and 13th centuries. Medieval mill wheels are built into both the graveyard wall and the wall on the opposite side of the road.

Cecil Frances Alexander Cecil Frances Alexander (April 1818 – 12 October 1895) was an Anglo-Irish hymnwriter and poet. Amongst other works, she wrote "All Things Bright and Beautiful", " There is a green hill far away" and the Christmas carol "Once in Royal David's Ci ...

lived in the old rectory in the late 19th century. Her contemporary, Agnes Jones, trained with

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War ...

and served as a nurse in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

. Agnes Jones was born in Cambridge, England.

Edward Maginn Edward Maginn (b. at Fintona, Ireland, 16 December 1802; d. at Derry, 17 January 1849) was an Irish Catholic priest, an advocate of Catholic Emancipation, and supporter of Daniel O'Connell in the Repeal movement. He became coadjutor bishop of Der ...

, a 19th-century bishop, served as a parish priest in Fahan. The church to the north of the rectory contains an early 20th-century stained-glass window by Evie Hone which depicts

St. Elizabeth of Hungary Elizabeth of Hungary (german: Heilige Elisabeth von Thüringen, hu, Árpád-házi Szent Erzsébet, sk, Svätá Alžbeta Uhorská; 7 July 1207 – 17 November 1231), also known as Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, or Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia, ...

Transport

Fahan railway station Fahan railway station served Fahan in County Donegal, Ireland. The station opened on 19 September 1864 on the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway line from Londonderry Graving Dock to Carndonagh Carndonagh (; ) is a town on the Inishow ...

which opened on 9 September 1864, closed for passenger traffic on 6 September 1948 and finally ceased on 10 August 1953. Fahan is served by the McGonagle Bus Company between

and Derry.http://journeyplanner.translink.co.uk/ext_webpdf_desk/TTB/EFA02__00004737_TP.pdf

Notable people

* W. G. S. Adams, political scientist and public servant * William Alexander, Primate of All Ireland *

Andrew Barnard General Sir Andrew Francis Barnard (1773 – 17 January 1855) was an Irish British Army officer. He served in various capacities in the West Indies, the Cape of Good Hope, Canada, the Netherlands, Sicily, Spain and in the Napoleonic Wars inclu ...

, British army general *

Paul Colton William Paul Colton (born 13 March 1960), known as Paul Colton, is an Irish Anglican bishop. Since 1999, he has served as Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross in the Church of Ireland. Biography Paul Colton attended St Luke's National School, Dougl ...

, Church of Ireland's Bishop of Cork *

George Downame George Downame (—1634), otherwise known as George Downham, was an author of influential philosophical and religious works who served as Bishop of Derry during the early years of the Plantation of Ulster. He is said to have been a chaplain to bo ...

, Bishop of Derry and writer on philosophical and religious subjects *

George Finlay George Finlay (21 December 1799 – 26 January 1875) was a Scottish historian. Biography Finlay was born in Faversham, Kent, where his Scottish father, Captain John Finlay FRS, an officer in the Royal Engineers, was inspector of government powd ...

, priest who served as Archdeacon of Clogher * Niall Frossach, King of Ailech *

, nurse *

Johnny McCauley Johnny McCauley (23 April 1925 – 22 March 2012) was an Irish singer-songwriter, born in Myroe, near Limavady, County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. As a young adult, he moved to London and in 1953 began singing professionally with his band, t ...

, singer-songwriter * Saint Mura *

Máel Muire Othain Máel Muire Othain (died 887) was an Irish poet. Life Máel Muire Othain held the post of Chief Ollam of Ireland. He died in 887 A.D. His nickname ‘Othna’, referred to him being a member of the monastery of Othain at Fahan, County Donegal ...

, poet * Andrew Simpson, actor * St Clair Thomson, surgeon

Gallery

File:Fahan Mura Cross Slab 1996 08 29.jpg, St. Mura Cross Slab from the 7th century File:Fahan Old Church 1996 08 29.jpg, Old church from the 17th century File:St Muras's Church Fahan (41436790274).png, St Mura's Church File:Fahan Beach.JPG, Fahan beach

History

Transport

Notable people

Gallery

References

See also