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Tour of Donegal, Londonderry & Tyrone |
| Grianan Ailligh |
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Burt
Co.Donegal
N13 three miles from Londonderry 15 miles from Letterkenny |
This large stone-walled fort, located on the summit of Grianan Mountain commanding views over Lough Swilly and the River Foyle and counties Donegal, Londonderry and Tyrone. Grianan Ailligh was the royal citadel of the northern Ui Neill from the 5th to the 12th century. |
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Burt Castle |
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| Burt Castle is probably the best known castle in the north-west because of it’s prominent position on a hilltop clearly visible from the Londonderry to Letterkenny road. There is no path or road to the site of the castle and it is on private land. |
The O’Dohertys were the Gaelic rulers of Inishowen and the remains of many of their fortifications are scattered throughout the peninsula. Burt Castle was a 16th-century fortress of the O’Doherty clan, one of four guarding the south-west approaches to Inishowen, and in its day was a place of great strategic importance. |
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Mongavlin Castle |
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Mongavlin
Co. Donegal
It is about 7 miles
upstream from Londonderry City and two miles or so south of the town of St Johnston. It is on private land.
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The remains of the keep of Mongavlin Castle can still be seen on the banks of the River Foyle. This was once the home of Ineen Dubh, mother of the famous Red Hugh O’Donnell, Chief of Tirconaill. There is a fascinating local tradition that following her marriage to Red Hugh’s father, Princess Ineen brought her own bodyguard of 100 soldiers over from Scotland. |
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Rev. James Porter |
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Tamnawood
Ballindrait
Co. Donegal. |
The Reverend James Porter was one of four Presbyterian ministers executed after the 1798 Rebellion. He was hanged in front of his wife and children outside his own church in Greyabbey, County Down. A plaque on the old family home at Tamnawood commemorates his life and death. |
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Balleghan Abbey |
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Balleighan
Mannorcunningham
Co. Donegal.
3 km north of the village of
Manorcunningham, overlooking Lough Swilly. |
On the shore of Lough Swilly near Manorcunningham stand the ruins of an old abbey. As described in Maguire’s ‘History of the Diosce of Raphoe’ ,The general belief is that the
Balleighan Abbey was founded by Hugh Dubh O’Donnell in the beginning of the sixteenth century and it was associated with Kilmacrenan Franciscan Friary. |
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Flight of the Earls |
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Flight of the Earls
Heritage Centre
Rathmullan
Co. Donegal
tel: +353 74 9158131
The Flight of the Earls Heritage Centre overlooks the very shore from where the Earls left Ireland for the continent. |
The Flight of the Earls in 1607, when Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone and Rory O’Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell boarded a ship on Lough Swilly bound for the continent, Their intention was to gain support in Europe for a liberation of Ireland from English rule but they never returned. It is often considered a pivotal moment in Irish history. |
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Taughboyne Church |
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Taughboyne
Co. Donegal
5 miles (W.S.W.) from Londonderry, on the road to Raphoe. |
Taughboyne Parish Church takes its name from the Irish, Tigh Baithin, or House of Baithin. St. Baithin, a cousin of St. Columba of Iona, founded a monastery here in the Laggan Valley in about 560AD. |
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Newtownstewart Castle |
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Newtownstewart
Co. Tyrone
Located on the main
street. |
Stewart Castle was built in 1619 by Sir Robert Newcomen. A large three-storey Plantation house. The building had little defensive equipment and has suffered extensive
damage on two occasions-Firstly during the 1641insurrection and its subsequent capture by Sir Phelim O’ Neill, and in 1689 on King James’ return from the Siege of Derry. |
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St Columb's Cathedral |
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Londonderry
BT48 6LZ
The stained glass
windows depicts scenes from the great siege of 1688-89. |
Dominating the skyline on all approaches to the City of Londonderry is Saint Columb’s Cathedral, which has stood on its prominent site inside the famous Walls of Londonderry since 1633. Dedicated to the name of Saint Columba (Columb) who established a Christian settlement here in the sixth century. |
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Old City Walls |
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The walls have a one mile long circuit providing many good views of the city and beyond.
Free access all year round |
Londonderry’s Old City Walls were built during the period 1613-1618 as defences for early seventeenth century settlers from England and Scotland, it is the only completely walled city in Ireland. The building was financed by the trade Guilds of the City of London and thus given the name Londonderry. The city withstood 105 days of siege during 1688-1689 by King James II’s army. |
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1st Derry Presbyterian Church |
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Upper Magazine Street,
Londonderry |
Presbyterianism in the Maiden City can be traced back to 1642, although it was not until 1690 that the city’s congregation built their first permanent meeting house on this site. In recognition of the community’s loyalty during the siege of 1688-89, Queen Mary made a generous donation towards its costs. |
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Monreagh Church |
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Monreagh,
Carrigans
Lifford,
Co. Donegal |
Mr. Robert Cunningham appears to be the first Presbyterian minister to hold regular services in the Laggan, and Monreagh the first Presbyterian congregation to be established in West Ulster. The date 1644 is still proudly displayed above the present church door. |
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Burt Church |
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Burt
Co.Donegal
N13 three miles from Londonderry 15 miles from Letterkenny |
Burt Session Minute Book 2nd April 1682
‘April the 2: Being the Sabath Mr Ffrances McKemey preached in Carnomady in Luke 13: 3 fore and + afternoon’ |
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The Old Meetinghouse |
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Back Lane
Ramelton
Co Donegal |
The Old Meetinghouse is the first permanent structure erected by the Presbyterian congregation in Ramelton. It was the building in which Rev Francis Makemie
worshipped as a youth. |
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Raphoe Castle |
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Sheep Lane
Raphoe
Co Donegal.
Behind the Church Of Ireland Cathedral |
Raphoe Castle, or the Bishop’s Palace, was built in 1636 by John Leslie, Bishop of Raphoe. In 1633 John Leslie, a soldier from Scotland, who had as a reward for his services to the Crown on the continent been made Bishop of the Western Isles, was transferred to Raphoe where he succeeded Bishop Knox. |
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Battle of Glenmaquin |
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Glenmaquin
Co. Donegal
Proceeding from Letterkenny, turn left at Glenmaquin National School and then first left. The site is on private land. |
Sir William Stewart of Ramelton and his brother Sir Robert Stewart were granted permission to raise two regiments in the Laggan district. On the 16th of June in 1642 the Laggan forces closed the distance between themselves and the insurgents to half a mile and stood to arms all night. Dawn found the two armies drawn up in the townland of Glenmaquin where there is a stream still called ‘The Battle Burn’ |
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Cavanacor House |
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Cavanacor Gallery,
Ballindrait, Lifford,
Co. Donegal,
tel: +353 74 9141143,
fax: +353 74 9141143
www.cavanacorgallery.ie
art@cavanacorgallery.ie |
Cavanacor House is a seventeenth century house with
considerable history. The ancestral home of James Knox Polk, the 11th President of the USA 1845 to 1849. King James II is also said to have eaten dinner under a sycamore tree in the front garden of the house during the Siege of Londonderry in 1689. |
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Woodrow Wilson |
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Dergalt,
Co. Tyrone
From Strabane take the Plumbridge road. After 2 miles turn left down lane signposted ‘Wilson House’. |
Woodrow Wilson was elected 28th President of the USA.
Wilson served two terms and was instrumental in pushing through major financial and social reforms. |
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Grant Ancestral Home |
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Ballygawley,
Co. Tyrone
From Ballygawley take A4 road to Dungannon. After 3m turn right, signposted, and the homestead is 2m from the main road on the right. |
John Simpson, maternal great-grandfather of Ulysses
Simpson Grant, was born at Dergina Ballygawley, Co Tyrone in 1738.
Ulysses Simpson Grant - 18th US President 1869-77 |
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©East Donegal Ulster-Scots Association 2006 |
