Letterkenny
|
|
Letterkenny (Leitir Ceanainn in Irish) is the largest town in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland, located 35 miles north of Donegal Town and 20 miles west of Derry in Northern Ireland. Its name is an anglicisation of the Irish language name, which, translated literally, means "The Slope of the Cannon Family."
The current population of Letterkenny is approximately 12,000, and the total population of the areas surrounding it is estimated to be 25,000-30,000 people. Despite its size, it is not the administrative center of Donegal, which is Lifford. It is situated at the base of the picturesque Lough Swilly.
Some prominent buildings in Letterkenny include St. Eunan's Cathedral, St. Eunan's College, the Workhouse (now functioning as the town's museum), and St. Conal's Hospital. Letterkenny Institute of Technology is a higher education institution in the town.
| Contents |
History and economy
Letterkenny began as a market in the 17th century (thus starting before the Great Famine) and was the first crossing point of the River Swilly. Letterkenny achieved town status in the early 1920s when the Irish punt replaced the English Pound Sterling as the national currency of Ireland. This led to many Irish banks that had been previously located in Derry in Northern Ireland being forced to open branches in Co. Donegal, including in Letterkenny. Public services and industry followed the banks and led to Letterkenny being the fastest growing town in the European Union for many years. Some of the town's most industrious employers, including the General Hospital (which grew from St. Conal's Asylum), Unifi (Unifi ceased operation's in October 2004, the site has now been sold to developers), and the Department of Social and Family Affairs, led to Letterkenny quickly becoming the largest town in Co. Donegal.
Its proximity to the border with Northern Ireland, along with its geographic isolation from the rest of the Republic of Ireland, has led to Letterkenny (and indeed, the rest of Co. Donegal) diverging in attitude substantially from that of either side of the border. The economy in the town is strongly dependent on cross-border trade, and times of economic boom are determined mostly by the currency exchange rate between the Euro and the British Pound.
Railway history
The town was, in times past, connected with the once extensive narrow gauge rail network of County Donegal. This provided connections to Derry (and through there to Dublin and Belfast), to Lifford and Strabane, to Gweedore and Burtonport, and to Carndonagh, north of Derry. The rail system was built in the late 19th century, with the last extensions opening in the 1900s. Some of these lines were never profitable, built using British government subsidies, described as an attempt to kill the Home Rule movement "with kindness". Only a couple of decades later, political events resulted in rail companies operating across two jurisdictions where there had previously been one. This had devastating effects on an already fragile economic situation, resulting eventually in the final closure of all parts of the rail system in the area by 1960. See History of rail transport in Ireland.
The railway station was converted to a bus station which today serves Bus Eireann. However, poor public transport in the region has led to the development of local privately-owned bus companies such as Lough Swilly Bus, which are often based in the surrounding Gaeltacht. The Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway company has continued to operate as a bus company. These private companies often provide the best transport links in the area.
See also
External links
- Letterkenny Online Business Directory (http://www.letterkennyonline.com/)
- The Letterkenny Guide (http://www.letterkennyguide.com/)
- Letterkenny Institute of Technology (http://www.lyit.ie/)
- Destination Letterkenny (http://www.destinationletterkenny.com/)
- Letterkenny Community Centre (http://www.letcomcentre.ie/)
- Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce and Industry (http://www.letterkennychamber.com/)
- Letterkenny Self Catering Accommodation (http://www.letterkennyrentals.com/)de:Letterkenny