Cloughaneely (official name: ) is a district in the north-west of

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 ...

in Ireland. This is a mainly coastal area with a population of over 4,000 centred on the towns of Falcarragh () and Gortahork (). It is a

Gaeltacht A ( , , ) is a district of Ireland, either individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The districts were first officially recognised ...

area, meaning the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

is spoken as the primary language. Cloughaneely includes the secondary school '' Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola'', with just under 500 students. Places of interest include ''Cnoc na Naomh'', considered to be a mountain with religious significance. Cloughaneely,

The Rosses The Rosses (officially known by its Irish language name, ''Na Rosa''; in the genitive case ''Na Rosann'') is a traditional 'district' in the west of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern Provinces of Ireland, province in Ireland. The Rosses has ...

() and Gweedore (), known locally as "the three parishes" with 16,000 Irish speakers, together form a social and cultural region different from the rest of the county, with Gweedore serving as the main centre for industry.

Irish language

There are 2 EDs Electoral Divisions in the area: # Gort a' Choirce (1,599) (81%) # Na Croisbhealaí (2,168) (44%)

Etymology

The name Cloich Cheann Fhaola (also written ''Cloich Chionnaola'', meaning "the Stone of Feeley's Head") comes from a story which tells of the killing of McFeeley. The story says that Balor of the Evil Eye beheaded him on a rock because he had stolen the Cow of Plenty that Balor had on the island of Toraigh ( Tory Island) from Balor's grasp and brought it back to the mainland. Another version of the story has Balor stealing the cow from MacKineely ic who then forcibly impregnates Balor's daughter Ethnea with the help of a Leanan Sidhe. Balor beheads him in revenge. According to this source, "the blood gushed forth and penetrated the stone to its very centre, thus forming the red veins which are still shown to the traveller; for the stone was raised in 1794, on a pillar sixteen feet high, and gives its name, Clogh-an-Neely, to a district comprising two parishes."

Townlands in Cloughaneely

* Ballyness (''Baile an Easa'') * Ballingat (''Baile an Gheata'') * Ballyconnell (''Baile Chonaill'') * Ballytemple (''Baile an Teampaill'') * Caoldroim Íochtarach (Lower Keeldrum) * Caoldrum lar (Middle Keeldrum) * Caoldrum Thuas ( Upper Keeldrum) * Derryconnor (''Doire Chonaire'') * Falcarragh (''An Fál Carrach'') * Gortahork (''Gort an Choirce'') * Killult (''Cill Ulta'') * Magheroarty ('' Machaire Rabhartaigh'') * Meenlaragh (''Mín Lárach'') * An Sruthán Riach

Islands

* Inishbofin (''Inis Bó Finne'') * Tory Island (''Oileán Thoraigh'')

Notable people

* Cathal Ó Searcaigh, poet * Micí Mac Gabhann, memoirist * Eithne Coyle, 1916 activist, spy, former president of Cumann na mBan, Mountjoy prison escapee * Annemarie Ní Churreáin, Poet, Writer

External links

Gaeltacht Irish language use survey 2007

References

{{Authority control Gaeltacht places in County Donegal Geography of County Donegal