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Carndonagh is the
main town of northern Inis Eoghain and is an important educational
and shopping centre. The 17th century Franciscan monk, scholar and
writer John Colgan was born here, and the area has been an
ecclesiastical centre of note for many centuries. Best known of its
historical and archaeological remains is the 7th century
Carndonagh
Cross.
The original Irish name, Carn Domhnach, means the burial
mound of the church. The town is laid out around a central square,
or Diamond, and is dominated by its Italianate Catholic church. The
annual Inishowen Agricultural Society’s Show is held in Carndonagh
and is where farmers and exhibitors show their animals and
livestock.
Visit Inishowen Self Catering for a wide selection of holiday
homes Standing in the heart of Carn (as the town is locally
known) is the Church of the Sacred Heart, built between 1942 and
1945 at the cost of ₤100,000. This church is the largest
ecclesiastical building in the peninsula seating up to 1500 people.
On the dome stands four statues designed by Albert Power R.H.A. and
carved from Dublin granite.
The Church of the Sacred Heart sits on a
commanding site and can be seen for some miles beyond Carndonagh.
Near Carndonagh Community School (one of the largest Secondary
schools in Ireland) is the Protestant Church whose belfry is said to
house a bell taken from the ‘Trinidad Valencera’ one of the ships of
the Spanish Armada which sank off the Inishowen coast at Kinnagoe
Bay in 1588. |
Carndonagh Holiday Homes - Donegal, Ireland