Fahan

Fahan

*Fathain Mura*
Fahan Fathain Mura
Village
	Fahan from Inch Top
	Fahan Location in Ireland
	Coordinates: 55°05′20″N 7°28′42″W / 55.089008°N 7.478457°W
Country	Ireland
Province	Ulster
County	County Donegal
Population (2022)	589
Time zone	UTC+0 (WET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-1 (IST (WEST))

Fahan (/fɔːn/; pronounced 'Fawn'. Irish: Fathain Mura, meaning 'little green/field of Mura') is a district of Inishowen in the north of County Donegal, Ireland, located 5 km (3 mi) south of Buncrana. In Irish, Fahan is named after its patron saint, Saint Mura, first abbot of Fahan, an early Christian monastery.

History

The walled graveyard, located west of the rectory, contains the grave of pioneering nurse Agnes Jones, the ruins of a 6th-century monastery featuring a 7th-century cross-slab of St. Mura, and the ruins of a 16th-century monastery and 17th-century church together with a number of grave slabs bearing coats of arms. The monastery and village were sacked by Vikings in the 10th and 13th centuries. Medieval mill wheels are built into both the graveyard wall and the wall on the opposite side of the road.

Cecil Frances Alexander lived in the old rectory in the late 19th century. Her contemporary, Agnes Jones, trained with Florence Nightingale and served as a nurse in the Crimean War. Agnes Jones was born in Cambridge, England.^[2] Edward Maginn, a 19th-century bishop, served as a parish priest in Fahan. The church to the north of the rectory contains an early 20th-century stained-glass window by Evie Hone which depicts St. Elizabeth of Hungary.^[3]

Transport

Fahan railway station, which opened on 9 September 1864, closed for passenger traffic on 6 September 1948. It finally ceased operation on 10 August 1953.^[4]

Fahan is served by the McGonagle Bus Company, with a stop on the route between Buncrana and Derry.^[5]

Notable people

W. G. S. Adams, political scientist and public servant
William Alexander, Primate of All Ireland
General Sir Andrew Barnard, British military commander
Paul Colton, Church of Ireland Bishop of Cork
Peter Cunnah, from Derry, now resident in Fahan; former lead singer with D:Ream
George Downame, Bishop of Derry and writer on philosophical and religious subjects
George Finlay, priest who served as Archdeacon of Clogher
Niall Frossach, King of Ailech
Agnes Jones, nurse
Johnny McCauley, singer-songwriter
Saint Mura
Máel Muire Othain, poet
Andrew Simpson, actor
Sir St Clair Thomson, surgeon

Gallery

St. Mura Cross Slab from the 7th century
Old church from the 17th century
St Mura's Church
Fahan beach

References

^ "Census Interactive Map – Towns: Fahan". Census 2022. Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
^ Fahan Presbyterian Church
^ "Fahan / Fathain". dun-na-ngall.com/. 2006. Archived from the original on 15 June 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2006.
^ "Fahan station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
^ McGonagle Bus Company Route 956 timetable.