Burnfoot, County Donegal

Burnfoot Bun na hAbhann
Village
Burnfoot Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 55°03′31″N7°24′18″W / 55.058473°N 7.404956°W / 55.058473; -7.404956
Country	Ireland
Province	Ulster
County	County Donegal
Government
•  Dáil Éireann	Donegal
Population  (2022) [1]	413
Time zone	UTC+0 (WET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-1 (IST (WEST))

Burnfoot (Irish : Bun na hAbhann) ^[2] is a small village on the Inishowen peninsula in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland. It lies within the townland of Ballyderowen. It has a few local shops and a pub. As of 2022 ^[update] , the population was 413. ^[1]

History

The name of Burnfoot is believed to have originated from Scottish settlers using "Burn", the Scots language term for a small river, giving it the translated title of "Foot of the River". ^[3] A large portion of the land near Burnfoot was reclaimed from Lough Swilly in the 19th century. ^[3] It was originally planned to cut a channel for a canal from the sea near Derry to Burnfoot so that the village could access Londonderry Port, though this plan was not carried out due to the costs involved estimated by the proposed architect Sir John Rennie the Younger. ^{[4] [5]} Burnfoot is on the border with County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. ^[6] It formerly had a railway station operated by the Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway. This station was open from 1864 until 1948 when it was closed. ^{[7] [8]}

In 2017, Burnfoot was flooded. ^[9] In March 2025, an application was made to Donegal County Council to build a water park in Burnfoot. ^[10] In April 2025, An Post opted to centralise its postal sorting facilities in Innishowen into a new delivery office in Burnfoot. ^[11] There is a small industrial estate which, among other firms, houses E&I Engineering, a major local employer with over 300 employees. Burnfoot is also home to Wild Ireland, an animal sanctuary that includes Irish bears, wolves and monkeys. ^[3]

References

1. "Census Interactive Map – Towns: Burnfoot". Census 2022 . Central Statistics Office . Retrieved 23 October 2024.
2. "Bun na hAbhann/Burnfoot". Placenames Database of Ireland. Government of Ireland - Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and Dublin City University . Retrieved 8 June 2018.
3. "Burnfoot" . Retrieved 18 April 2025.
4. Swan, Harry (1949). 'Twixt Foyle and Swilly. Hodges Figgis. p. 68.
5. Ordinance Survey of Ireland (1837). Ordnance Survey of the County of Londonderry. Vol. 1. Hodges and Smith. pp. 297–298.
6. McHugh, Conor (1 March 2018). "'How can a serious alert be in place in Burnfoot but not several miles away in Derry?' Sinn Fein MP calls for 'all-island' approach to weather warnings". Derry Now. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
7. Patterson, Edward (1988). The Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway: A History of the Narrow-gauge Railways of North-West Ireland. David & Charles. p. 40. ISBN   9780715391679.
8. "Irish railways" (PDF). Railscot. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
9. Ganly, Conor (24 August 2017). "A GoFundMe to help the people of Burnfoot has so far raised €1,000 in ten hours". Derry Now. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
10. "Outdoor water sports park proposed for Burnfoot". Derry Now. 28 March 2025. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
11. Dowds, Damian (8 April 2025). "An Post to open new delivery office in Burnfoot". Donegal Live. Retrieved 18 April 2025.