Creeslough

Village in County Donegal, Ireland

Village in Ulster, Ireland

Creeslough

An Craoslach

Village

Main Street

Creeslough

Location in Ireland

Coordinates: 55°07′19″N 7°54′25″W﻿ / ﻿55.122°N 7.907°W﻿ / 55.122; -7.907
Country| Ireland
Province| Ulster
County| County Donegal
Barony| Kilmacrenan
Population

(2022)[1]

| 398
Time zone| UTC+0 (WET)
• Summer (DST)| UTC-1 (IST (WEST))
Irish Grid Reference| C059305
Website| www.creeslough.com

Creeslough (/ˈkriːslɒx/ KREES-lokh,[2] locally /ˈkriːslɑː/ KREES-lah;[3] Irish: An Craoslach [ənˠ ˈkˠɾˠiːsˠˌl̪ˠax])[2] is a village in County Donegal, Ireland, 12 kilometres (7 mi) south of Dunfanaghy on the N56 road. It overlooks an arm of Sheephaven Bay, with the population of the surrounding area engaged mainly in agriculture, mostly livestock rearing.[citation needed]

## Name

[edit]

The English name 'Creeslough' (occasionally 'Cresslough') is an anglicised respelling of an Irish name, the modern official spelling of which is An Craoslach (including the definite article An). According to the Placenames Database of Ireland, this means "the gorge".[2] Under the Official Languages Act 2003, only the Irish name of Creeslough electoral division has official status, because part of it is in the Gaeltacht,[4] whereas Creeslough village is outside the Gaeltacht and its English name has equal status.[5] Craoslach is usually interpreted as craos+loch;[3][6][7] where loch means "lake", while craos literally means "gullet, throat" and metaphorically can mean either a gap or gluttony.[8] In the 1830s, John O'Donovan glossed the name as "Craoslaoch [sic] swallowing lake; throat lake",[9][10] and Patrick Weston Joyce glossed it in 1875 as "Craos-loch — a lake that swallows up everything".[7] In 2000, Lawrence Donegan wrote:[6]

Craos Loch in Irish, meaning Throat Lake or Gullet Lake. Why? Because there was a tiny lake at the top of the village that gathered a lot of rainwater from the surrounding hills and leaked only a little away through a tiny stream. Where did all the water go? It had been swallowed by the hungry lake, obviously. Why not call the village Hungry Lake? It wasn't poetic enough.

Suggested alternative derivations are craos+lacha[n] "duck[s] throat",[9] or crioslach (or variant críoslach)[11] "limit, border".[9][10][12] Niall Ó Dónaill advised the Placenames Branch in 1962 that, although there was evidence that Crioslach was the older Irish form, it had long been changed to An Craoslach.[13]

## History

[edit]

Population history of CreesloughYear| Pop.| ±%

|
|

1841 | 235| —
1851 | 272| +15.7%
1861 | 229| −15.8%
1871 | 154| −32.8%
1881 | 155| +0.6%
1891 | 132| −14.8%
1901 | 179| +35.6%
1911 | 150| −16.2%
1926 | 156| +4.0%
1936 | 199| +27.6%
1946 | 167| −16.1%
1951 | 170| +1.8%
1956 | 198| +16.5%
1961 | 242| +22.2%
1966 | 262| +8.3%
1971 | 269| +2.7%
1981 | 352| +30.9%
1986 | 340| −3.4%
1991 | 299| −12.1%
1996 | 300| +0.3%
2002 | 304| +1.3%
2006 | 327| +7.6%
2011 | 410| +25.4%
2016 | 393| −4.1%
2022 | 398| +1.3%
[1][14]

Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of ringfort, holy well, enclosure and burial sites in the townlands of Creeslough, Killoughcarran and Masiness.[15] Nearby Doe Castle, a tower house with a surrounding bawn, dates from the 1420s.[16]

On 7 October 2022, an explosion at Creeslough destroyed a shop and Applegreen petrol station, as well as the adjoining apartment block, resulting in ten deaths and multiple injuries.[17][18]

## Places of interest

[edit]

Muckish Mountain in the Derryveagh range, near Creeslough St. Michael's Church, designed by Liam McCormick in 1971

Nearby places of interest include:

* Doe Castle, a 15th-century castle of the MacSuibhne clan, restored between 2002 and 2005. It is perhaps best known as the place to which Owen Roe O'Neill returned to command the Irish Confederate's Ulster army in 1642 during the Irish Confederate Wars.
* Ards Forest Park, which contains some megalithic tombs, ringforts and a Mass rock.[19] The forest park encompasses a variety of habitats, including sand dunes, tidal salt marsh as well as several small lakes, two of which are vegetation-filled and in the process of becoming bogs.
* Owencarrow Viaduct, the scene of a 1925 rail disaster.
* Glenveagh National Park, created in 1981 from lands granted by Henry P. McIlhenny, of Philadelphia.
* Muckish, a mountain with a distinctive outline and a number of routes to the summit, a common hiking destination.[20] The surrounding mountainous areas are also suitable for hiking. The annual Glover Highlander walk goes from Muckish to Errigal.[21] There are also several marked trails in Glenveagh National Park.
* Doe Chapel (1784–1971); the remains of its outer walls are situated within the current graveyard at Doe (in Cashelmore, 3 km north of Creeslough). The bell tower stands intact.
* St. Michael's Catholic Church, known locally as 'the Chapel', designed by Derry architect Liam McCormick in 1971. Notable for its unique design, which mimics the shape of the nearby table mountain of Muckish.[22] McCormick was also responsible for the design of the RIAI Triennial Gold Medal-winning St Aengus' Church in Burt, County Donegal.[23] The chapel bell was moved from the bell tower at Doe Chapel.

## Transport

[edit]

Creeslough railway station opened on 9 March 1903, closed for passenger traffic on 3 June 1940, and finally closed altogether on 6 January 1947.[24]

## Education

[edit]

A view of the countryside around Creeslough with Muckish mountain in the background

The area around Creeslough is served by three primary schools:

* Scoil Mhuire – Roman Catholic, 142 pupils (2011 figures)[25]
* Creeslough National School – Church of Ireland, 20 pupils (2011 figures)[25]
* Glassan National School – Roman Catholic, 29 pupils (2011 figures),[25] located 5 km to the west of Creeslough village

## People

[edit]

See also: Category:People from Creeslough

* Kathleen Antonelli, programmer of ENIAC, the first ever computer
* Thomas Bartholomew Curran, barrister and Anti-Parnellite
* Lawrence Donegan, Scottish journalist and musician, author of No News at Throat Lake (2000).[26] Donegan lived in Creeslough for a short time.
* Bridie Gallagher, singer described as "Ireland's first truly international pop star"[27]
* Bernard Lafferty, butler and heir to Doris Duke[28]
* Neil McBride (Niall Mac Gioll Bhridé), poet, author, and lyricist[29]
* Martin McElhinney, Gaelic footballer[30]
* Colm McFadden, Gaelic footballer
* James McNulty, activist for Irish Independence and father of Kathleen Antonelli
* Christy Toye, Gaelic footballer

## In popular culture

[edit]

* No News at Throat Lake is a memoir by Lawrence Donegan about his year living in Creeslough as a reporter for the bi-weekly newspaper, Tirconaill Tribune.[26]
* The area has featured in a number of Irish folk songs, including "Cutting the Corn in Creeslough" which has been covered by Daniel O'Donnell and Creeslough native Bridie Gallagher.

## See also

[edit]

* List of towns and villages in the Republic of Ireland

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Census Interactive Map – Towns: Creeslough". Census 2022. Central Statistics Office. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
2. ^ a b c "An Craoslach / Creeslough [town]". logainm.ie. Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
3. ^ a b McKay, Patrick (1999). A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names. Belfast: The Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast. p. 49.
4. ^ S.I. 2004/872, Schedule Part 7 Section A Chapter 4 No. 12
5. ^ S.I. 2005/59, Schedule Section D Chapter 2 No. 38
6. ^ a b Donegan, Lawrence (2000). No news at Throat Lake. New York: Pocket Books. p. 65\. ISBN 978-0-671-78540-6.
7. ^ a b Joyce, P. W. (1902) [1875]. The origin and history of Irish names of places. Vol. 2\. London, New York / M. H. Gill: Longmans Green / Dublin. p. 402.
8. ^ Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977). "craos". Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla. Retrieved 8 October 2022 - via teanglann.ie.
9. ^ a b c Placenames Branch file on Creeslough, card 2
10. ^ a b "An Craoslach/Creeslough [townland]". logainm.ie. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
11. ^ Ní Dhomhnaill, Cáit (1970). "Observations on Vowel Lengthening in Irish". Studia Celtica. 5. Cardiff: 89–93.
12. ^ O'Reilly, Edward (1864). "crioslach". An Irish-English Dictionary. Dublin: J. Duffy.
13. ^ Placenames Branch file on Creeslough, card 5
14. ^ Census data from printed reports (1881 C. 3204-IV p. 382; 1911 Cd. 6051-IV p. 20 No. 31; 1926 Vol. 1 Table 11 p. 125 No. 31; 1936 Vol. 1 Table 13 p. 138; 1946 Vol. 1 Table 13 p. 134; 1951 Vol. 1 Table 14 p. 144; 1956 Vol. 1 Table 14 p. 142; 1961 Vol. 1 Table 8 p. 19; 1971 Vol. 1 Table 8 p. 35; 1986 Vol. 1 Table 10 p. 70) and from CSO interactive tables (1996 A0112; 2006 C0105; 2016 E2016).
15. ^ Lacey, Brian, ed. (1983). Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century. Lifford: Donegal County Council.
16. ^ "Doe Castle". heritageireland.ie. Office of Public Works. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
17. ^ Sherlock, Cillian (7 October 2022). "At least three people dead after explosion at service station in Donegal". RTÉ News. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
18. ^ "Creeslough: Ten dead after Donegal explosion". BBC News. 8 October 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
19. ^ "THE MASSROCK". www.creeslough.com. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
20. ^ "Walking Ireland's Iconic Mountains – Number 2: Muckish". 20 January 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
21. ^ The Glover Highlander Walk
22. ^ "St. Michael's Church". www.dunfanaghy.info. Archived from the original on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
23. ^ "Liam McCormick - Father of modern Irish church architecture". www.culturenorthernireland.org. 7 April 2006. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
24. ^ "Creeslough station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 23 September 2007.
25. ^ a b c "Department of Education". Archived from the original on 6 May 2015.
26. ^ a b Zibart, Eve (2000). "No News At Throat Lake BookPage review". www.bookpage.com. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
27. ^ McFaul, Anna Marie (10 January 2012). "Bridie Gallagher: Ireland's 'first international pop star'". BBC News. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
28. ^ Sheridan, Kathy (9 November 1996). "Flamboyant life and death of a billionaire butler". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
29. ^ Gallagher, Bridie. "Noreen Bawn". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
30. ^ McNulty, Chris (6 March 2019). "All-Ireland winner Martin McElhinney pulls out of Donegal panel". Retrieved 6 March 2019. "...the 30-year-old Creeslough man said in January."

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Creeslough.

* Creeslough News

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* Ardagh
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* List of townlands in County Donegal
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