Greencastle, County Donegal

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Greencastle
An Caisleán Nua

Location

WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates:
55.2° N 6.9833° W

Irish Grid Reference
C648397

Statistics

30 m

Population (2002)
- Town:
- Rural:

570
747

Greencastle

Greencastle Harbour - by Irish Artist, Sheila McClean

Greencastle Pier at Dusk

Greencastle, Donegal (An Caisleán Nua in Irish) is a commercial fishing port in County Donegal in the northwest of Ireland though nowadays given the decline in the fishing industry, it resembles more closely a "typical" Donegal holiday village. It is located a few miles from Moville and is about 20 miles from Derry. Greencastle's name comes from the castle in the area, which in turn, may have its name from the green freestone with which it was built.

The first proper pier was built in 1813¹ and has been added to several times since. Today, as well as being a tie up for trawlers and salmon boats and the home of the Greencastle Fishermen's Co-Op, the Foyle Fishermen's Co-Op and Fresco Seafoods, the pier also has a very different 'catch'. Visitors disembark from the Magilligan-Greencastle ferry which was inaugurated in 2002². The official website advertises the fact that this saves 78km (or 49 miles) of driving, which would be through Derry. The Lough Foyle Ferry Company has also recently (2004) begun a Lough Swilly ferry service that runs between Buncrana and Rathmullan seasonally. The pier also contains a newly built pilot office to replace the decommissioned pilot office at Carrickarory Pier.

The castle at Greencastle has been linked [1] with the castle in the background of the Derry crest: According to Beattie³ the castle is known as the de Burgo castle, which was built in 1305 to provide a base for Norman power in the North West. This building was named "Northburg" ⁴ and was actually built on the site of a much older fortress. There is a more modern Martello Fort beside the Norman ruin. This was built by the British to stop Napoleon invading circa 1800.

In mid 2005 local resident John Browne fell an amazing 40feet from the top of the castle and miraculously survived. Although John damaged much of his lower body he has since made a full recovery and is now somewhat of a celebrity in the local area.

The National Fisheries College (NFC) is located also located in Greencastle. The NFC recently completed a €1.1 million extension funded under the INTERREG 11 Initiative, thus providing better facilities including a realistic simulator bridge deck.