Professional Documents
Culture Documents
An Enchanting Place,
A Colourful Past
Malin Head lies 15.3 km north of the village of Malin. Banba’s Crown is
the most northerly point of Malin Head and it is from here one can see
Tory Island and Fanad Head lighthouse, heralding the entrance to Lough
Swilly. Among other visible headlands to the west are Horn Head, Bloody
Foreland and Dunaff Head. To the northeast lies Inishtrahull Island and
looking beyond this island one can see the hills of western Scotland, and
the island of Islay, on a clear day.
1 Maghtochair, Inishowen: Its History, Traditions, and Antiquities, (Londonderry: The ‘The Scheldrín’
Journal Office, 1867), p. 126
6 7
Setting the Scene:
A Weave of History,
Archaeology and Folklore
8 9
in 1816, Reverend Edward Doon fort flanks the western
A Legacy of Chichester referred to local end of the bay below a ruined
men in Malin who repeated church and cave. A natural tunnel
Prehistoric Malin fragments of Ossian’s poems goes through the rock on the
that had faithfully been passed landward side. Folklore claims
As a peninsula, Inishowen was Note: The exact location of down through generations of that the smooth hollowed rock
the ideal location for Ireland’s archaeological sites in Malin oral tradition.6 In 1837, a separate in the middle of the tunnel was
earliest inhabitants: nomadic townlands can be seen on the account by topographer Samuel the “saint’s chair” while the “red-
hunter-gatherers who hugged the Archaeological Survey Database Lewis noted that nearby place- coloured rock of the roof above is a
coastline, reliant on seafood as of the National Monuments names corresponded with events blood-stain, made as the saint was
part of their staple diet. Evidence Service website, and is accessed recorded in Ossian’s poems.7 murdered where he sat”.8
of these Mesolithic people include via http://webgis.archaeology.ie/
flint implements and shell middens NationalMonuments/FlexViewer/
(ancient deposits indicative of
human domestic activity). One
such midden was discovered just
Further evidence of pagan Malin
includes megalithic tombs and
Defensive
above Trabreaga Bay at Drung
(8km south of Malin Head). In
standing stones. One such site
was recorded at Umgal (four
Promontory
this same location, barely 100m
away, an excavation in the 1960’s
miles south of Malin Head) by
archaeologist Mabel Colhoun.
Forts
unearthed three Bronze Age cist The remains of what Colhoun There are two rock projections
graves containing the remains of described as a multi-chambered located on the coast at Ballygorman,
two adults (male and female) and cairn are now too scant to ascertain named Doon and Dungolgan
an infant. A Bronze tool, a piece of its identification as a megalithic forts. These bastions of rock stand
rock crystal and a Bronze pygmy structure.4 Local tradition claims guard at either side of the bay
cup were buried with the bodies.3 that this ancient “grave” -as named in which the sacred site of Malin
in an 1848 Ordnance Survey map- Well is nestled. The earthwork
was the burial place of Ossian, traces and tunnel that led to their
pre-eminent poet of pagan Ireland classification as promontory
and son of Fionn MacCumhaill.5 forts have all but disappeared. View of Sea stacks from Malin Head.
6 Reverend Edward Chichester, “ Parish of Cloncha” in William Shaw Mason, (ed.), A Statistical
Account or Parochial Survey of Ireland Vol. II, (Dublin: Hibernia Press Office, 1816)
3 Brian Lacy, Archaeological Survey of County Donegal, (Donegal County Council, 1983) 7 Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, (London: Samuel Lewis and Co., 1837)
4 Ibid. 8 O. Davies and H.P. Swan, “The Castles of Inishowen” in Ulster Journal of Archaeology,
5 Harry P. Swan, Twixt Foyle and Swilly, (Dublin: Hodges, Figgis and Co. Ltd, 1949) Series III, Vol. 2, (Ulster Archaeological Society, 1939), pp. 206-207
10 11
The Arrival Malin Well:
of Christianity A Sacred Site in a
The baptism of Eoghan by St. and Bishop McColgan who ruled the Magical Setting
Patrick at An Grianan of Aileach in diocese from 1752 - 1765. The nearby
the 5th century marked the birth monastic sites at Carrowmore and This site of pilgrimage is situated at was a Donegal man living in the 11th
of Christianity in Inishowen and Culdaff meant that this remote area Drumnacille (ridge of the church) in century. He settled in Germany
hailed the beginning of a flourishing was a thriving and sophisticated the townland of Ballygorman, one where he became a Benedictine
monastic era. The important 6th place of learning in the early mile east of Portmore Pier. Whilst monk. A talented scribe known
century monastic foundation at medieval period. In the 9th century, local tradition connects more as Marianus Scotus, he produced
Cloncha (3 km from the village hermitages began to accumulate in than one saint with the site, it is St. manuscripts in Regensburg which
of Culdaff) was “the centre for the area around Cloncha. Malin Head Muirdhealach who features most included the Pauline Epistles now
conversion of a large part of was the ideal hermit’s haven and prominently. St. Muirdhealach (d.1088) residing in the Imperial Library in
Inishowen”9 and came under the the raw beauty of its surroundings Vienna. In 1078 he founded the
influence of Colmcille’s disciples at inspired prayer and fasting. Tradition abbey of St. Peter in Regensburg and
an early date. Among those buried maintains the famous site of Malin became its first abbot.10 The special
here are Father Sheridan who was Well is a legacy of this era. features associated with this site are
chaplain to Bonnie Prince Charles, St. Mahar’s Church, The Wee House of
Malin and Malin Well.
9 Neil McGrory, Inishowen: A Journey Through Its Past, (Culdaff: The Sweat House, 1988), p.21 10 Catholic University of America, New Catholic Encyclopaedia Vol. 9, (Catholic
University Thomson/Gale, 2003), p. 164
12 13
The Wee House of Malin Malin Holy Well have.....forbidden the offensive
A few yards south west of the This revered early Christian well is orgies by which he [St. Muirdhealach]
church is a small cave carved into a located in the natural cavern in the is worshipped.” 13 This second
cliff face known locally as the Wee rock on the shore directly below the account was by no means unbiased
House of Malin. church. The well is supplied by a and possibly exaggerated for the
spring and is covered at high tide. purpose of discrediting this popular
It is possible the well was originally Catholic pilgrimage.
a site of worship in Druidical times.
The well is said to have been blessed The O’Gormans and the
by St. Muirdhealach and to have Holy Stone
healing properties. Until recently it There is a long tradition of
was a famous place of pilgrimage the O’Gorman family living in
on the 15th August (Feast of the Ballygorman. It is said that the Holy
Assumption). Donegal pilgrims, as Malin Holy Well Stone of Malin was given into the
well as those from neighbouring care of the O’Gorman family by the
counties, came to partake in rituals called the Malin Well Fair and saint (Muirdhealach) of Malin Well.
associated with the curative powers there are some dismissive accounts There was a cure connected with
of the well. This pilgrimage was relating to the rituals performed. the stone. The stone was applied to
In 1801 McParlan observes the the affected part of the body and
culmination of pilgrimage festivities subsequent sweating meant that
into an unusual ritual with, “people the cure was working. Rivalry over
Wee house of Malin dropping beads in the water…all possession of the stone emerged
vehemently whispering prayers.... between various branches of the
There are rough stone seats all but the ceremony finishes by a good O’Gorman family. Those who dwelt
around the interior and legend ablution in the sea, male and female, in neighbouring Ballyhillion stole the
claims it accommodates all all frisking and playing in the water stone and the Ballygorman branch
who go into it. It is suggested St. stark naked and washing off each recovered it by force. As a result of
Muirdhealach was the hermit other’s sins.”12 Another account by the disagreement, the Parish priest,
who lived in the cave and in 1752 Reverend Edward Chichester in Father Neil O’Flaherty, confiscated
renowned Englishman, Bishop 1814 referred to the degeneration of the stone at the beginning of the
Pococke, wrote, “Muirdhealach festivities into “the most disgusting 19th century.14 It is not known what
lived in a cave in the rock of the drunkenness and debauching” and has become of it.
cliff where poor people lodge who “the clergy of the Church of Rome
come for cure”.11
Malin Well Site 12 James Mc Parlan, Statistical Survey of the County of Donegal, (Dublin: Graisberry
and Campbell, 1802), p.117
11 Brian Bonner, Our Inis Eoghain Heritage, (Limerick: Salesian Press, 1984), p.77 13 Rev. Chichester, (1816), p. 181
14 Bonner, (1984)
14 15
Conquest and Consequence:
Malin Head Under British Rule
Of Lords and Legend:
O’Doherty Chieftains in Malin
The O’Dohertys became the Celtic the landscape, there is a romantic
lords of Inishowen from 1413. State theory that the exquisite setting
Papers of 1600 state that O’Doherty of Dunargus promontory near the
had sought refuge in a place beyond townland of Culoort could be the
a river which “cutteth off the far end site of the elusive Don’yrishe castle View of Dunargus promontory
of the country from all the rest,”15 and the O’Doherty fortification of
and where castles were built to Malin.17 complete subjugation of Inishowen to Sir Arthur Chichester, Lord of
resist Scottish raids. Could the during the reign of James 1. The Ireland and Marquis of Donegal.
area in question be north of Malin When Culoort (a townland land of Inishowen was bequeathed
village? Cloncha was recognised as neighbouring Malin Head) was
a separate district of Inishowen and confiscated in 1604, Cahir
English reports c.1600 refer to it as O’Doherty bought it, determined
an island. Malin was not an island that this strategic outpost remain
but the narrow strip of bog which in the possession of the Gaels.18 In
divided it from the rest of Inishowen return for peaceful submission to
provided a natural defence and Queen Elizabeth 1, the O’Dohertys
could easily be manipulated to retained their rights to land in
form entrenchments so as to cut it Inishowen. This privilege was
off from the mainland.16 Whilst there short-lived as the 1608 rebellion of
are no visible traces of castles on Cahir O’Doherty brought about the
15 Ibid., p. 113
Bogland in the area of Keenagh and Culoort
16 Davies and Swan, (1939), p. 179
17 Ibid.
18 Bonner, (1984)
16 17
Anecdotes Relating to the
The End
and the Irish – displaced from Whilst a small number of Gaelic
O’Dohertys in Malin fertile land - reduced to serfdom. speakers were recorded in Malin
Maghtochair (Michael Harkin), This land was sold two generations Head and Inishtrahull island in the
writing in the mid 1800s, notes the later by the widow of a son of Sean of the 1901 census, native Irish speakers
presence of the direct descendants O’Doherty (who was a Major in had all but disappeared in this area
of Cahir O’Doherty in Culoort. He
refers to a piece of glenwood oak,
the army of James II). It was John Gaelic Era by the mid 1800’s.
Harvey of Derry who bought the
handed down through the family for land. According to tradition, the With the arrival of English-speaking The idyllically-situated Roman
generations, into which is carved the land sold for the price of £50 and a settlers and ministers of the Catholic chapel at Lagg (built
date 1525. In addition, a parchment silk gown and Harvey subsequently Established Church, the Gaelic order in 1784) was the first erected in
is said to list the names of Cahir and moved to Keenagh and opened a was dismantled as the British system Inishowen following the relaxation of
Conn as heads of the O’Doherty shop. Major O’Doherty had another took root. The enforcement of the the Penal Laws. A little further along
household in Culoort up to Harkin’s son who reportedly had a weakness Penal Laws meant that Catholics the coast road towards Malin town
time. Following Cahir’s demise in for alcohol. His regular purchase had to practise their religion and stands the Presbyterian meeting-
1609, Lord Chichester pledged of liquor from Harvey’s shop left education in secret. Large upright house, built in 1711. According to
£10 annuity to his descendents in him without money and eventually stones, called Mass Rocks, acted as tradition, the church was built below
Culoort in recognition of the chief- without land. Having secured all alters at which priests said mass in the high water mark and so was
tain’s rightful claim to the land. This of the O’Doherty land in Keenagh, remote locations, near cliff edges, liable to flooding twice daily at high
annual payment was said to have Harvey became the agent in the nestled amongst hills, or on the tide. The vulnerable position of this
lasted until the death of the fifth area for the Marquis of Donegal. 20 nearby island of Inishtrahull. At edifice- at the edge of Trabreaga
Earl Chichester (d. 1799)19 Whether or not there is truth in this illegal Hedge Schools, children were Bay- is testimony to the fact that
tale, the Harvey family became one taught by poor nomadic scholars the Presbyterian community faced
A distinguished branch of the of the principal landlords in Donegal and if detected the school masters oppression under the Establishment.
O’Doherty clan called the Mac in the succeeding generations. could face execution or deportation.
an Meirge O’Dohertys lived in the A number of Hedge Schools existed
townland of Keenagh. Chichester in Malin Head where students were
granted Richard O’Doherty educated in literacy, mathematics,
and his heirs the right to lease and sometimes Latin and Greek.
their land forever. This was a In Bree (Malin Head), Donnell
privileged position at a time when O’Doherty taught navigation.21
landlordism (the middle-man
concept) was being implemented
Malin Hall, built by the Harvey family in 1758
Catholic Chapel at Lagg
19 Maghtochair travelled through the remote areas of Inishowen, celebrating its 21 Conall K. Byrne, “Hedge Schools of Inishowen” in Donegal Annual No. 33,
beauty and gathering information from local people about the history and (Ballyshannon: Donegal Democrat Ltd., 1981), p.46
traditions of the area. His articles were published in the Derry Journal.
20 Ibid.
18 19
1936 this mill switched on the
Malin Town town’s electricity for the first time.22
Apart from its early commercial and
industrial functions, Malin town held
the distinction of accommodating a
George Harvey, High Sheriff of This stone bridge replaced a
courthouse where petty sessions
County Donegal, built Malin Hall wooden one that was destroyed
were held once or twice a month.
in the townland of Norrira in 1758. by a storm in 1757. Modest
In addition to a constabulary
Over the next decade, Harvey period townhouses surround the
barracks, there was a Revenue
planned the picturesque village leafy green on its three sides.
Police barracks, set up to quash
of Malin below his residence,
poitín distillation for which the
where the Ballyboe River flows Malin was a bustling market town
area was notorious. The Church
into Trabreaga Bay. Present day in the late 1700’s to early 1800’s.
of Ireland, which stands next to
Malin is an award-winning town Busy fairs for the sale of cattle and
the courthouse, was built in 1827
and retains its original charm and sheep were held on the village
and became the parish church. Its
character. An impressive ten-arched green thrice yearly and a market
construction was funded by a £200
bridge leads to the heart of the took place every Tuesday. The
grant from the Board of First Fruits23 Malin Courthouse
quaint triangular-shaped village. town also operated a mill and in
and two £100 donations from Bishop
Knox of Derry and Mr. Harvey of In 2013 Malin town hosted the
Malin Hall. The 1916 Rising, War of acclaimed and highly popular
Independence and Civil War of the ‘Guth Gafa’, an annual International
early 20th century had little effect Documentary Film Festival.
on Malin but the presence of the
R.I.C in Malin incited an arson attack
on the courthouse in 1922.24 The
building was repaired by locals and
is still used by the community as a
club house. It is hoped funding can
be gathered to restore the inside of
the courthouse by exposing and/
or reinstating its original features.
the Natural Landscape Bridge and wide, and 100 feet deep. The water
rushes into the narrow neck making
Hell’s Hole a thunderous sound as it enters the
cavern at the end of the gorge.
Geology The striking natural features
etched into the coastal landscape
Malin Head is composed mainly
of metamorphic and igneous rock
Malin of Malin Head include Hell’s Hole
and Devil’s Bridge. Situated west of
formed over 400 million years ago,
but it is the island of Inishtrahull,
Pebbles Banba’s Crown, they were viewed
with both awe and trepidation by
located 5 miles northeast of Malin The Malin Head coastline is awash past inhabitants and were featured
Head that is worthy of particular with a variety of pebbles that include in folktales passed down through
attention. The oldest rocks in gemstones such as opal, jasper, the generations.
Ireland occur as a small outcrop on amethyst and topaz, to name a few.
this island. These rocks are known These semi-precious stones were The natural jagged arch called
as gneiss, a coarsely crystalline (and still are) used to make jewellery Devil’s Bridge has been shaped
metamorphic rock which requires and were set into seals in the early by centuries of Atlantic erosion.
extremely high temperatures and 19th century.
pressures to form. It is estimated
that they are approximately 1,780
million years old. 25 Scientific
research into the origin of the
Inishtrahull gneiss has concluded
that the rocks are not related to
the Irish mainland but are part of
the Rhinnes Complex of southern Hell’s Hole
Greenland. The Hebridean Islands, One tragic tale, “The Legend
Colonsay and Islay, anchored off the of Inishtrahull”, was related by
coast of Scotland also correlate with Barney McGonigal, an Inishtrahull
the Rhinnes Complex of Inishtrahull native who settled in Malin Head.
and southern Greenland. The story is as follows: One day a
Malin Pebbles man was crab-fishing at Port Mór
(Inishtrahull). He saw a mermaid
25 J.S. Daly, R.J. Muir and R.A. Cliff, ‘A precise U-Pb zircon age for the Inishtrahull syenitic
gneiss, County Donegal, Ireland’, Journal of The Geological Society 148, (1991), Devil’s Bridge
pp. 639-641
22 23
on the rocks combing her hair. He
threw his shark skin crab bag over Ballyhillion Living in the
Northern Extremity
her head and in the struggle her tail
fell off and she had feet and legs. Raised Beach
He took her home and hid her tail.
They had two children, a boy and Below Banba’s Crown to the east
a girl. The boy found his mother’s lies Ballyhillion Beach. This raised Moving away from the coastline, Famine. Seaweeds were eaten
tail and she took it from him, went beach is of particular scientific the landscape of Malin Head is a (sloke and carageen) and used as
into the sea, and was never seen importance. This is because four colourful blanket of bogland and fertilizer, and the waters around
again. The children followed her different stages of sea level change heather. The bog was both a blessing Malin teemed with fish and shell-
and were drowned. The distraught and glacial activity can be seen, and an inconvenience in the past. It fish. Captain Hart, who came into
father threw himself over the rocks showing the changing connection provided an abundance of fuel, so ownership of Malin Head, financed
few suffered the bitter weather on the construction of Portmore Pier
at Devil’s Hole (Hell’s Hole). 26 between the sea and land from
when the glaciers began to melt this exposed headland. On the other and harbour in 1837. A safe port, it
at the end of the last Ice Age. hand, where bogland predominated, could accommodate most boats
fertile land was sparse. in Inishowen. Surplus catch was
sold, fresh or dried, at Moville
A chiefly agricultural community, and Carndonagh markets, from
the inhabitants of Malin Head also where it was sent to inland towns
relied on the rich harvest of the sea or exported to Glasgow and
and as a result this area was one Liverpool. Another export from
of the least affected by the Great Malin that became very profitable
26 Harry P. Swan, Romantic Inishowen, (Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, 1947), pp. 81-82)
24 25
The Restless Ocean
during the war years was which was supplied by the farmer.
rabbits, which were snared in It is said that on one occasion the
abundance at Lagg and the women of Cloncha made some
area around Devil’s Bridge. poitín to welcome the hard-working
28 Lewis, (1837)
Portmore Pier
29 Sean Beattie, “Emigration from North Donegal”, in Donegal Annual No. 44,
(Ballyshannon: Donegal Democrat Ltd., 1992), p. 20
27 Byrne, (1990) 30 ibid
26 27
Shipwrecks
Daniel Doherty is an example In 1950 he addressed the U.S
of a well-respected and active Congress in Washington with
participant in Irish-American affairs. a petition willed by 15 million
Americans asking for the The treacherous water around Malin The Twilight
recognition of Ireland as a thirty- Head has become a graveyard of In the autumn of 1889, this 779
two county Republic. Doherty ocean liners and German U-boats, ton ship left St. John’s for Derry.
was in direct communication with casualties of the world wars. A strong north west wind blew
many eminent politicians over In earlier times seafarers were up and grounded the ship on the
the course of his lifetime, most occasionally lured into the shallow Five Fingers Strand. The lifeboat
notably John F. Kennedy, whom he waters of Trabreaga Bay (translated from Culdaff had to be pulled
had in attendance at the Donegal as the “lying strand”), some having overland but sank in the bog road
Association 50th Anniversary dinner mistaken it for Lough Swilly. which was built on quick moss. All
in 1958, and Eamon de Valera.31 were rescued and the cargo of deal
The Cambria (planks of pinewood) was auctioned
In 1870 this passenger liner struck on the beach. The wreck of the
rocks and sank off Malin Head. All Twilight can occasionally be seen
the passengers and 80 of her crew at low tide.32
perished except one man who was
found next day in an open boat near
the entrance to Lough Foyle. He did
Photograph of Daniel Doherty with Eamon not live long after his rescue.
de Valera, c.1960s. Courtesy of Donegal
County Archives.
The Daniel Morris
Born in Ballyhillion in 1890, Doherty This cargo ship sank in Trabreaga
emigrated from Donegal to America Bay below Knockamany Bens in
at the age of 19. Having worked 1876. Its cargo of white flour was
as a farm labourer and a miner, salvaged by some of the locals and
he served in the U.S army during it is maintained that this was the
World War One after which he first time bread was baked using
settled in Boston. Doherty became white flour in Malin.
an influential member of the
Donegal Association of Boston.
31 Donegal County Archives Service holds a collection of Daniel Doherty’s 32 Byrne, (1990)
private papers: P/11).
28 29
War, Weather, and
and with the island of Inishtrahull captains would transfer the
where another signal tower was contraband to the islanders’ boats.
erected on the western end of
Communications
The islanders then brought it to
the island. When in line of sight Inishtrahull until it was safe to bring
of the tower, ships would signal it ashore to hide in coastal caves.
their destination using flags and in From here it was taken to Derry by
An Important Role in Early turn the coastguard would inform
Lloyds in London. The semaphore
the captains’ agents and sold.33
Banba’s Tower and Marconi Wireless Station. Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland.
33 ibid, p. 20
30 31
During World War Two, look-out August 1940 the lighthouse keeper
The post huts were built at Malin on Inishtrahull used semaphore to
Head to protect Irish neutrality. relay to Malin Head look-out posts
World Wars They were manned by the Irish that crew from the torpedoed
defence forces who kept watch cargo ship, The Havildar (which
The current coastguard station at the destroyer HMS Racoon, which and reported activities at sea and was enroute to Burma) had landed
Malin Head was built by the British sank on 9 January 1918. It is be- in the air. These huts still stand on on Inishtrahull. 34 In the same
in 1913. During World War One lieved it struck the Garrive Isles the headland. Another symbol of month another ship in distress
(1914-1918) the Royal Inniskilling when caught in a snow storm a Irish neutrality was the ‘Eire’ sign, was the 16,923 ton Transylvania
Fusiliers were billeted at the station. mile off Malin Head. None of the painted on stones and pressed into which was damaged by a torpedo
During the war, many ships were 100 man crew survived. In 1996 the grass. Still visible below Banba’s off Malin Head. Three hundred
destroyed off Malin Head. Some fell Malin fishermen unwittingly came Tower, the sign was a message to survivors were safely transferred
victim to mines whilst others failed upon live ammunition from the World War Two pilots that they had to trawlers. Two officers and 20
to navigate through treacherous wreck among their lobster pots. entered neutral territory. men were killed. Today the wreck
winter conditions. One such ship was
34 Michael Kennedy, Guarding Neutral Ireland, (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2008), p.36
32 33
Inishtrahull
36
National
Weather Station
The first weather station at Malin daily wind speed is 20mph. The No account of Malin Head would her and when they fell asleep, well
Head was established by the British highest gust speed recorded at be complete without giving due watered with poitín, the Scotsmen
Meteorological Service in 1885 and Malin Head was 114mph when regard to the small, yet formidable, were slaughtered. Their bodies were
weather reports were transmitted the tail end of Hurricane Debbie island of Inishtrahull. This hour- rolled over a cliff onto the strand at
by personnel employed by Lloyd’s struck the west coast in 1961.35 glass shaped island stretches a Portmore and today Roman Nettles
Insurance Company. Coastguard The Aurora Borealis puts on a mile long and there are many Irish and Fool’s Parsley mark the spot. 37
officers continued this work until spectacular display here during translations for the word Inishtrahull,
1920 when a local family was times of increased solar activity. including Inis Tra Fola- Island of The discovery of a small inscribed
contracted to provide climate the Strand of Blood- which has a “cursing stone”, buried 8ft deep
data and one weather report each remarkable legend associated with and dating from 750 AD would
day. Today, Malin Head weather it. In the distant past two brothers suggest the island was inhabited
reports are mentioned as part of from Inishtrahull were on a fishing from the earliest times. The 1851
the BBC Shipping Forecast. In 1955 expedition but fierce winds blew census lists 11 houses with 68
the current synoptic station was up and forced them to land on
built by the Irish Meteorological an island of the Inner Hebrides.
Service whose personnel recorded They were treated with hospitality
hourly weather observations. The by the Highlanders, but one of the
high wind speeds recorded at men fell in love with a daughter
Malin Head is what distinguishes of the chieftain. The young lovers
it from other stations around were refused permission to wed
Ireland. Storm force 12 winds are and they stole away to Inishtrahull.
recorded most years. The average After a number of years, the
armed Highlanders discovered the
whereabouts of the maiden but she
and her eldest son plotted to out-
smart the Scotsmen. The maiden Inishtrahull Island. Courtesy of Seán Beattie,
invited her clansmen to dine with The Book of Inishtrahull (Culdaff: Lighthouse
Publications, 1992) and Jim McLaughlin and
Seán Beattie, Atlas of County Donegal (Cork
University Press, 2013).
Beattie, S., “Emigration from North Donegal”, in Done- Kennedy, M., Guarding Neutral Ireland. Dublin: Four
gal Annual No. 44. Ballyshannon: Donegal Democrat Courts Press, 2008
Ltd, 1992
Lacy, B., Archaeological Survey of County Donegal.
Bonner. B, Our Inis Eoghain Heritage. Limerick: Donegal County Council, 1983
Salesian Press, 1984
Lewis, S., Topographical Dictionary of Ireland,
Byrne. C., Malin: Aspects of its History. 1990 London: Samuel Lewis and Co., 1837
Byrne, C. K., “Hedge Schools of Inishowen”, in Donegal Maghtochair, Inishowen: Its History, Traditions, and
Annual No. 33. Ballyshannon: Donegal Democrat Ltd, 1981 Antiquities. Londonderry: The Journal Office, 1867
Catholic University of America, New Catholic Encyclo- McGrory, N., Inishowen: A Journey Through Its Past.
paedia Vol 9. Thomson/Gale, (2003), p. 164 Culdaff: The Sweat House, 1988
Chichester, E, “ Parish of Cloncha” in William Shaw Mason, McParlan, J., Statistical Survey of the County of
(ed.), A Statistical Account or Parochial Survey of Donegal. Dublin: Graisberry and Campbell, 1802
Ireland Vol. II. Dublin: Hibernia Press Office, 1816
Swan, H.P., Romantic Inishowen: Ireland’s Wonderful
Colhoun, M. R., The Heritage of Inishowen: Its Ar- Peninsula. Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, 1947
chaeology, History, and Folklore. North West Archae-
ological and Historical Society, 1995 Swan, H.P., Twixt Foyle and Swilly, Dublin: Hodges,
Figgis and Co. Ltd, 1949
Daly, J.S., Muir, R.J., and Cliff, R.A., ‘A precise UPb zircon
age for the Inishtrahull syenitic gneiss, County Donegal,
Ireland,’ in Journal of The Geological Society 148. 199
38 39
Internet Sources
www.malinhead.ie
The Malin Head Trail is an illustrated and highly in-
formative guide to the interesting coastal features of
Malin Head.
➢www.malinheadwrecks.com
Photographs and videos taken of the many shipwrecks
off Malin Head.
➢www.malinheadcoastguardradio.com
A detailed account of the history of the coastguard
operations in Malin Head.
➢www.met.ie/about/weatherobservingstations/ma-
linhead.asp
Information on Malin Head’s weather observing station
➢www.movilleinishowen.com
This site contains a number of informative historical articles
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Donegal County Archives is part of Cultural Services Division,
Community, Culture and Planning Directorate, Donegal
County Council.
www.facebook.com/DonegalCountyArchives
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