Convoy, County Donegal

Convoy (Irish: Conmhaigh, "plain of hounds")[2] is a village in the east of County Donegal, Ireland, in the Finn Valley district. It is part of the Barony of Raphoe. It is situated on the Burn Dale (also known as the Burn Deele), and is located on the R236 road to Raphoe.[3]

Convoy Conmhaigh
Village
Convoy Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 54.859998°N 7.663976°W / 54.859998; -7.663976
Country	Ireland
Province	Ulster
County	County Donegal
Dáil Éireann	Donegal
Elevation	40 m (130 ft)
Population  (2016)[1]	1,526
Irish Grid Reference	C216014

St. Ninian's Church of Ireland Church

The old Convoy Woollen Mill

Convoy had a total population of 1,526 according to the 2016 census.[1] Like many other villages in the vicinity, it has its origins in the Plantation of Ulster. Convoy is home to a mixed religious community which is reflected in the schools and churches in the village.

There is a Catholic and a mixed primary school in the village. There is also a Catholic church (popularly known as 'the Chapel'), a Church of Ireland church and a Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster church or 'kirk' (which was opened by the Church's founder, The Rev. Ian Paisley) in the village. There are no secondary schools in Convoy and local children tend to travel to Raphoe or Stranorlar for second-level education.

The Burn Dale (Irish: An Daoil; also spelt in English as the Burn Deele) is a burn (a small river) that flows along the southern edge of Convoy.

Convoy Woollen Mill

Convoy once had a woollen mill located on the banks of the Burn Dale (also spelt as the Burn Deele), but this closed in the early 1980s with the resultant loss of many local jobs. The woollen mill is now host to a business area that was promoted and assisted by the Republic of Ireland's former state development body FÁS.

Convoy House

The Montgomery family of Convoy is descended from Alexander Montgomery, Prebendary of Doe, who died about 1658. He was brought over from Scotland by his kinsman, George Montgomery, who became the first Protestant Bishop of Raphoe in 1604. Alexander Montgomery of Croaghan, near Lifford, bought the Convoy estate from the Nesbitt family in 1719. Boyton House was first occupied in November 1807 by the family of Robert Montgomery of Brandrim who had inherited the estate from his cousin, Sandy Montgomery of Convoy. Sandy represented Donegal in Grattan's Parliament for thirty-two years. He spent part of his youth in America and was noted for his duelling. His brothers were John of Lisbon and Richard, a general in Washington’s army who fell at the siege of Quebec in 1775. Sandy was a friend of Lord Edward Fitzgerald and a secret supporter of the United Irishmen. He voted against the Act of Union in 1800. Boyton House used to contain the letter which Washington wrote to the family on Richard’s death and receipts for meat bought by thehundred-weight in Raphoe by the Montgomery family for free distribution in Convoy during the Famine. The house passed through marriage to the Boyton family in the nineteenth century.[4]

Transport

There are daily Bus Éireann buses serving Convoy which go to such places as Derry, Letterkenny and Strabane several times a day.

Convoy railway station opened on 1 January 1909, and closed on 1 January 1960.[5]

The nearest railway station is operated by Northern Ireland Railways and runs from Waterside Station in Derry, via Coleraine, to Belfast Central railway station and Belfast Great Victoria Street railway station. The strategically important Belfast-Derry railway line is to be upgraded to facilitate more frequent trains and improvements to the permanent way such as track and signalling to enable faster services.

Sport

Convoy is to be the proposed site of the Donegal GAA centre of excellence, it is set to be completed by the end of 2013. Seán Dunnion, chairman of the county board said of the centre: “The benefits that can be accrued out of it will be huge to our footballers, our hurlers, our ladies, our camogie players, our schools…the benefits to everyone will be immense.”

Naomh Mhuire Conmhaigh is the local GAA club. Founded in 1928 the club caters for players both male and female at all age levels in football. The players come from the villages of Convoy, Drumkeen and Raphoe with the pitch located in Convoy. They have a long and distinguished history having won many junior titles.

Convoy has a local amateur soccer team, Convoy Arsenal. The club were Donegal Junior League winners in 2003, won the Division One title in 2004 and were runners-up in the Premier Division in 2005. On the back of that success, Convoy Arsenal joined the Ulster Senior League in 2005. As well as catering for the more senior players from the area, they presently have teams in the Donegal Saturday League in the under-8, under-10, under-12, under-14 and under-16 grades.

See also

• List of populated places in the Republic of Ireland

References

1. "Census 2016 Sapmap Area: Settlements Convoy". Central Statistics Office (Ireland). Retrieved 2018-06-17.
2. "Conmhaigh/Convoy". Placenames Database of Ireland (logainm.ie). Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and Dublin City University. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
3. "Convoy, Donegal". Topographical Dictionary of Ireland: Samuel Lewis, 1837. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012.
4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-25. Retrieved 2011-10-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. "Convoy station" (PDF). Railscot – Irish Railways. Retrieved 2007-09-23.