Irish: Gleann Cholm Cille Glencolmcille Glencolumbkille | |
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District and civil parish | |
Irish: Gleann Cholm Cille Location in Ireland | |
Coordinates: 54°42′32″N8°43′34″W / 54.709°N 8.726°W | |
Country | Ireland |
Province | Ulster |
County | County Donegal |
Barony | Banagh |
Elevation | 20 m (70 ft) |
Population | 217 |
Irish Grid Reference | G529846 |
Gleann Cholm Cille is the only official name. The anglicised spellings Glencolumbkille and Glencolmcille no longer have any official status. |
Gleann Cholm Cille, anglicised as Glencolumbkille or Glencolmcille, [2] is a small district on the Atlantic coast of southwest County Donegal in Ireland. Named after Saint Colm Cille (Columba), it is also a civil parish in the historic barony of Banagh. [3] Glencolmcille is in the Gaeltacht , and while it remains an Irish-speaking community, English has been steadily replacing Irish as the main language, with only 34% of residents speaking Irish on a daily basis in 2002. [4] The village of Cashel is the main settlement in the district.
The earliest recorded names for the district were Glend (meaning simply 'Glen' or 'Valley') and Senglenn (meaning 'Old Glen' or 'Old Valley'). [5] [6] [7] The district later became known as Gleann Cholm Cille, probably in the fifteenth-century. This later, and current, name means 'Valley of Colm Cille'. The district's current name was first fully recorded only in 1532, when it was written in Maghnas Ó Domhnaill's Betha Colaim Chille (Life of Colm Cille) as being: ag tSenglenda a crich Ceneoil Conill ris a raiter Glend Colaim Cilli aniug ('at the river of Seanghleann [Old Glen] in the territory of the Cenél Conaill , which is called Gleann Cholm Cille today'). [5] Saint Colm Cille, or Columba, is one of Ireland's three patron saints (along with Saint Patrick and Saint Brigid). He and his followers supposedly lived in the valley for a time and the ruins of several of their churches can still be seen there.
The district was once famous as being the parish of The V. Rev. James Canon McDyer (1910–1987), who championed the rights of rural people and helped establish community-based industries in the area. [8] A parish council (Comhairle Paróiste Ghleann Cholm Cille) has been functioning in Glencolmcille since the 1930s, to look after the interests and needs of the residents. Members are elected to this body every four years by the residents of the Glencolmcille church area. [9]
Four sites make up National Monument #139:
Glencolmcille was home to the Dublin-born artist Kenneth King, whose works depict naval and merchant shipping, coastline and lighthouses. [note 1]
British composer Sir Arnold Bax made many extended visits there between 1904 and the early 1930s. Apparently, Bax composed much of his music and wrote many of his poems and stories while staying there. He describes the district and its villages, and the life of its inhabitants, in his autobiography Farewell My Youth:
At one end of the little Glen Bay was a wilderness of tumbled black rocks, for some reason named Romantia (a particularly "gentle" – or fairy-haunted place, I was told in Dooey opposite), and upon this grim escarpment the breakers thundered and crashed, flinging up, as from a volcano, towering clouds of dazzling foam which would be hurled inland by the gale to put out the fires in the cottage hearths of Beefan and Garbhros. The savagery of the sea was at times nearly incredible. I have seen a continuous volume of foam sucked, as in a funnel, up the whole six-hundred-foot face of Glen Head, whilst with the wind north-west a like marvel would be visible on the opposite cliff.
There were days when you had to lean hard up against the wind to keep your feet at all... Yet in that unearthly valley there always seemed to be a core of peace in the heart of the most ravening tempest.
—Arnold Bax, Farewell My Youth
There are a number of natural sites nearby, such as the Slieve League (Sliabh Liag) cliffs, The Silver Strand (An Tráigh Bhán) at Malin Beg (Málainn Bhig), and Glen Head (Cionn Ghlinne) itself.
At the centre of one of the largest Gaeltacht areas, the district is known as the home of Oideas Gael, an Irish-language learning institute established in 1984 to promote the Irish language and culture. The district also has a petrol station, grocer, post office, folk village, woollen mill, hill walking and accommodation centre, restaurant, "village cafe" and two pubs (often with Irish fiddle music).
Films shot on location in Glencolmcille include The Railway Station Man , 1992, starring Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland and John Lynch. [13]
Columba or Colmcille was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the important abbey on Iona, which became a dominant religious and political institution in the region for centuries. He is the patron saint of Derry. He was highly regarded by both the Gaels of Dál Riata and the Picts, and is remembered today as a Catholic saint and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.
The Cathach of St. Columba, known as the Cathach, is a late 6th century Insular psalter. It is the oldest surviving manuscript in Ireland, and the second oldest Latin psalter in the world.
Skryne or Skreen is a village in County Meath, Ireland. On and around a hill between the N2 and N3 roads, it is 10 km south-east of the centre of Navan and 35 km north-west of the centre of Dublin. The village is on the far side of the Gabhra valley from the Hill of Tara. The Hill of Skryne is higher than the neighbouring Hill of Tara. Skreen gives its name to the surrounding barony, civil parish and townland.
Tyrconnell, also spelled Tirconnell and Tirconaill, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland. It is associated geographically with present-day County Donegal, which was officially named County Tirconaill between 1922 and 1927. At times it also included parts of County Fermanagh, County Sligo, County Leitrim, County Tyrone and County Londonderry at its greatest extent. The kingdom represented the core homeland of the Cenél Conaill people of the Northern Uí Néill and although they ruled, there were smaller groups of other Gaels in the area.
Cloghanmore is a megalithic chamber tomb of the court tomb type located about 8 km east from Carrick in Malin More, Glencolmcille, in County Donegal, Ireland.
Glenoe or Gleno is a hamlet in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is halfway between Larne and Carrickfergus. In the 2001 Census, it had a population of 87 people. Glenoe is in the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area.
Donegal–Leitrim was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas from 1969 to 1977. The constituency elected 3 deputies to the Dáil, on the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).
The Silver Strand(An Trá Bhán in Irish) is a horse-shoe shaped beach situated at Malin Beg, near Glencolmcille, in south-west County Donegal, Ireland.
Glen is a small village in County Donegal, Ireland. The focus of the townlands of Glenmenagh and Glenineeny, it is within the parish of Mevagh, and the Barony of Kilmacrenan. The village is on the crossroads between the towns of Milford, Letterkenny, Creeslough, and Carrigart. The village once supported a schoolhouse, post office and shop, as well as historically a fair. Today, however, one of the few businesses left is the historic local public house, originally a shebeen and dating from the 17th century.
Gartan is a parish in County Donegal, Ireland. It is best known for being the birthplace of Columba, one of the three patron saints of Ireland and one of the most revered saints in the Christian world. Here he founded a monastery in 521. The popular song "Gartan Mother's Lullaby" comes from the area, and has been performed by many artists, including American actress Meryl Streep.
James Byrne was an Irish farmer and fiddle playing icon from Donegal. He has been called one of Ireland's leading fiddle players.
Cruithnechán, also known as Cruithnechan, Crunathan, and Cronaghan, was an Irish saint from around the 6th century, known as one of the mentors of Columba, who founded the famous monastery at Iona.
Noel Hegarty is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Naomh Columba and the Donegal county team.
Gaeltacht an Láir is an Irish-speaking area in the central part of County Donegal in the west of Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. It centres on the village of Baile na Finne (Fintown) and stretches south to Gleann Colm Cille and north to Fanad and Rosguill. There are nearly 7,000 people living in the area and 2,000 daily Irish speakers.
Lough Beagh, also known as Lough Veagh, is a freshwater lake in the northwest of Ireland. It is located in north County Donegal and is part of Glenveagh National Park.
Ray Church is a medieval church and National Monument in County Donegal, Ireland.
Carrick is a village located within the civil parish of Glencolmcille in County Donegal, Ireland. As of the 2016 census, the population of the village was 265. Carrick is located between neighbouring towns Glencolmcille, Meenanary, Teelin and Kilcar. Nearby is Sliabh Liag, the highest sea cliff in Europe.
CLG Naomh Columba is a Gaelic football-only GAA club based in Gleann Cholm Cille in the south-west of County Donegal in the west of Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. The club fields both men's and ladies' teams from underage as far as senior level. They enjoy an intense rivalry with their neighbours, Cill Chartha (Kilcar), although the rivalry has subdued somewhat in the last number of years as the clubs have played in different divisions.
Aaron Doherty is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Naomh Columba and the Donegal county team.