Glencolmcille
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| Glencolmcille Gleann Cholm Cille |
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| Town population: | - (2002) |
| Rural population: | - (2002) |
| Elevation: | 20 m |
| County: | Donegal |
| Province: | Ulster |
Glencolmcille or Glencolumbkill (Irish: Gleann Cholm Cille) is a coastal town located on the southwest Gaeltacht tip of County Donegal, Ireland.
The name translates into English as the Valley of Saint Columba. Saint Columba (Irish name Colm Cille) is one of Ireland's three patron saints (along with Saint Patrick and Saint Brigid). Colm Cille and his followers lived in the valley and the ruins of several of their churches can still be seen there. Following a dispute with the church about the right to copy religious manuscripts, Colm Cille went into exile on the isle of Iona of the west coast of Scotland.
Between 4000 and 3000 BC, farming people settled in the area and excellent examples of their court tombs can be seen at Mainnéar na Mortlaidh and An Clochán Mór. Examples of the less-elaborate portal tombs, dating from about 2000 BC can also be seen at Málainn Mhóir.
The town was once famous as being the parish of forward thinking Father McDyer (1910-1987), who championed the rights of rural people and helped establish community-based industries in the area.
Many natural beauties lie nearby, such as the Slieve League (Irish: Sliabh Liag) cliffs, the Silver Strand (Irish: An Tráigh Bhán) at Malin Beg (Irish: Málainn Bhig), and Glen Head (Irish: Cionn Ghlinne) itself.
The town is well-known today as the home of Oideas Gael, an Irish language learning institute established in 1984 to promote the Irish language and culture. The town also has a petrol station, grocer, post office, folk village, woollen mill, restaurant and three pubs (with great fiddle music often to be found in Roarty's or Biddy's). The coast road across to Malin Mor (Irish: Málainn Mhór) via the Óstán Ghleann Cholm Cille is majestic and now passes the new golf course, which is hoped will further increase tourism.
[edit] Gallery
 Typical local cottage at the Folk Village Museum at Glencolmcille |
 The village of Glencolmcille |
 Glencolmcille cottages |
[edit] External links
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- Aerial image from TerraServer
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