Carraig Airt (anglicised as Carrigart or Carrickart) is a small

Gaeltacht ( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially recog ...

village in the barony of Kilmacrennan to 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 Tyrconn ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The village is on the R245 route between

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( ga, Leitir Ceanainn , meaning 'hillside of the O'Cannons'), nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a county in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Letterkenny lies on the ...

and Creeslough. Situated as it is at the base of the Rosguill peninsula, in one of the more remote but most scenic parts of the country, the village provides services for a large hinterland, with a supermarket with banking facilities, a post office, a doctor's surgery and a barracks staffed part-time by the Garda Síochána. Carrigart has a public park that borders the shoreline behind the houses on the main street. Designed by Angela Gallagher, it is maintained by the Tidy Towns Committee and has won several awards. The village and its environs remain largely agricultural, relying on passing trade and tourism during the summer months. In common with the rest of this part of Donegal, Carrigart has many second homes, owned especially by

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

holiday makers. The village, which celebrated its centenary in 2002, although there is evidence of Carrigart's existence for longer than that, originally formed part of the estates of the

Earls of Leitrim Earl of Leitrim was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. History The earldom of Leitrim was created in 1795 for Robert Clements, 1st Viscount Leitrim. He had already been created Baron Leitrim, of Manor Hamilton in the County of Leitrim, in 1 ...

, nearby Mulroy House being one of their seats. William Clements, 3rd Earl of Leitrim, was assassinated in nearby Cratlagh wood in 1878 by men from the neighbouring peninsula of Fanad. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Carrigart had a fair day on 21 June. The town now hosts a festival that runs from 8 to 14 August. The official name given to Carrigart is ''Carraig Airt'' but it has also been translated as ''Ceathrú Fhiodhghoirt'', meaning ''Quarterland of the Wood of the Field'' Deirdre and Laurence Flanagan, ''Irish Place Names'', Gill & Macmillan, 2002.

References

{{County Donegal Articles on towns and villages in Ireland possibly missing Irish place names Gaeltacht places in County Donegal Gaeltacht towns and villages Towns and villages in County Donegal

See also

References