Ramelton

Ramelton (rə-MEL-tun; Irish: Ráth Mealtain),[2] also Rathmelton, is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. As of 2016, its population was 1,266.[1]

Ramelton Ráth Mealtain
Town
Bridge over the River Lennon in Ramelton
Ramelton Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 55°02′08″N 7°38′44″W
Country	Ireland
Province	Ulster
County	County Donegal
Elevation	20 m (70 ft)
Population  (2016)[1]
• Urban	1,266
Irish Grid Reference	C228212

History

Ramelton is situated at the mouth of the River Lennon, 11 km north of Letterkenny and 4 km east of Milford, on the western shores of Lough Swilly. The town is named from Ráth Mealtain, (Irish for "the fort of Mealtan"), an early Gaelic chieftain. The fort is said to lie under the ruins of a medieval castle of the O'Donnells, the ruling family of West Donegal before their exile to mainland Europe in 1607.

Ramelton was settled by English and Scots planters during the Ulster Plantation of the 17th century and is the site of the oldest Presbyterian church in Ireland.

Facilities

Ramelton is serviced by many shops and services within the town. The Town Hall in Ramelton was built in the late 19th century and still has a vital role in the community today.

The town has many grocery stores including Kernan's Spar Supermarket, Whoriskey's Eurospar and McFadden's Supermarket.[3]

Ramelton also has a Church of Ireland Church of St.Paul, Parish of Tullyaughnish.

The town is served by a private bus service which serves Ramelton from Mondays to Saturdays to and from Letterkenny, the largest town in County Donegal. Three buses leave Ramelton for Letterkenny each day Monday to Saturday, with two buses leaving Letterkenny for Ramelton.[4]

Other

The town was the setting for the 1995 television serial The Hanging Gale, which told of the Great Famine of the 19th century.

Ramelton is also a key setting for the A.E.W. Mason novel The Four Feathers.

The town hosts the Lennon Festival, a village fair, since 1970. Ramelton is a Fáilte Ireland designated Heritage Town. The town is also the setting for DjangoSurLennon gypsy jazz festival which has been held in the town in since 2015 and has featured gypsy jazz musicians from Europe and beyond.

Notable people

• Catherine Black, private nurse to King George V
• Robert E. Bonner, American publisher, born Ramelton
• William C. Campbell, scientist, Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine in 2015[5]
• Patsy Gallacher, association football player with Celtic F.C
• Dave Gallaher, All Blacks rugby captain, author and WW1 soldier
• Roy Greenslade[6]
• Arthur Gwynn, cricket and rugby union player
• Edward Gwynn, scholar of Old Irish and Celtic literature
• John Tudor Gwynn, cricket player
• Lucius Gwynn, cricket and rugby union player
• Robert Gwynn, cricket player
• Conrad Logan, professional footballer
• Francis Makemie, clergyman, the founder of Presbyterianism in the United States
• William McAdoo, American Democratic Party politician
• Basil McCrea, MLA, Leader of NI21 in the Northern Ireland Assembly
• Walter Patterson, first British Governor of Prince Edward Island

See also

• List of towns and villages in the Republic of Ireland

References

1. "Census 2016 Sapmap Area: Settlements Ramelton". Central Statistics Office (Ireland). Retrieved 6 June 2018.
2. "Ráth Mealtain/Rathmelton". Placenames Database of Ireland (logainm.ie). Government of Ireland - Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and Dublin City University. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
3. http://www.ramelton.net/Shops.htm
4. "Patrick Gallagher Travel - Donegal Bus Service - Home". Patrick Gallagher Travel.
5. "Irish scientist wins Nobel Prize for Medicine".
6. "The Irish still love their newspapers". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. 14 August 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2010. The Irish love reading newspapers, whether they are national or local. It's a joy to see the papers piled high at my local store in the Donegal town of Ramelton in the morning and note their disappearance by the evening.

External links