Burt () is a parish in

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, on the main road between

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( , meaning "hillside of the O'Cannons"), nicknamed the Cathedral Town, is a large town in County Donegal, Ireland, on the River Swilly in the north-west of Ulster. Along with the nearby city of Derry, Letterkenny is a regional eco ...

and

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

Location

At the base of 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 ringfor ...

Peninsula, Burt is part the parish of Fahan. The ancient Grianán of Aileach stone fort dates to 1700BC. On a clear day, it is possible to see the hills of seven counties of Ireland and the Ulster coastline, particularly

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 ...

, Inch Island and

Lough Foyle Lough Foyle, sometimes Loch Foyle ( or "loch of the lip"), is the estuary of the River Foyle, on the north coast of Ireland. It lies between County Londonderry in Northern Ireland and County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. Sovereignty over t ...

. From Grianán hill you can see the extent of the reclaimed land at Inch Level which was enclosed by three embankments in 1856. Burt

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Chapel on N13 was modelled after the Grianán of Aileach. The

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

congregation nearby dates from 1673, but the present church was built in 1896. Travellers along the main N13 road from

also see the remains of the Burt Distillery with its stone chimney, in use during the 18th and 19th centuries at Bohullion.

History

Burt Castle () stands on top of Castlehill and dates from 16th century; it has strong connections with the

O'Doherty O'Doherty () is an Irish surname, which is derived from the O'Doherty family, O'Doherty clan. List of people with the surname *Brian O'Doherty (born 1928), Irish art critic, writer, artist, and academic *Sir Cahir O'Doherty (1587–1608), last G ...

clan. Behind Castlehill, on the edge of

, are the remains of an abbey or church at Grange. The churchyard at Grange contains some of the earliest grave stones in this area dating from 17th Century. On the walls of the old building are gravestones and tablets showing the graves of Rev. Andrew Ferguson Sen the second Presbyterian minister of Burt 1690 to 1725 and also his son Rev. Andrew Ferguson Jun who succeeded his father as Minister of Burt from 1725 to 1787.

Notable people

* Paul Callaghan (born 1971),

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

er * Mark Coyle (born 1997), professional footballer * W. D. Flackes (1921–1993), BBC political correspondent * Joseph McLaughlin (1867–1926), U.S. Republican Congressman from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Josias Leslie Porter Josias Leslie Porter (4 October 1823 – 16 March 1889) was an Irish Presbyterian minister, missionary and traveller, who became an academic administrator. He was Moderator of the Irish General Assembly in 1875. Early life Born on 4 October 18 ...

(1823–1889),

missionary; President of

Queen's College, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

References

{{Reflist Civil parishes of County Donegal