Gortahork

Gortahork Irish: Gort an Choirce
Village
Housing in Gortahork
Gortahork Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 55°07′10″N 8°08′09″W / 55.1195°N 8.1357°W / 55.1195; -8.1357
Country	Ireland
Province	Ulster
County	County Donegal
Government
• Dáil Éireann	Donegal
Population  (2016)[1]	185
Area code	+00353 07491
Irish Grid Reference	C055307
Gort an Choirce is the only official name.[2] The anglicised spelling Gortahork has no official status.

Gort an Choirce or Gort a' Choirce (Irish: [ˌɡɔɾˠt̪ˠ ə ˈxɔɾʲcə];^[3] meaning "oat field"), anglicised as Gortahork, is a village and townland in the northwest of County Donegal, Ireland. It is a Gaeltacht community, where the Irish language is the main language spoken in the area. Along with Falcarragh, it forms part of the district known as Cloughaneely.^[4]

Irish language

According to the 2016 census the population of Gort an Choirce was 185,^[1] with 41.6% of people speaking Irish on a daily basis outside the education system. This puts the town in 8th place for highest percentage of daily Irish speakers in Ireland.^[5]

Name

The official name of the townland is Gort an Choirce (anglicised to Gortahork), meaning "oat field".^[6]

History

Evidence of ancient habitation in the townland includes a number of ring forts and souterrains in the area.^[7]

The village has a history of local enterprise, shops, forges, hotels, post office halls, and other meeting places for the communities in the surrounding areas.^{[citation needed]}

It is claimed that a Charlie McGee, from

There is a hotel on the main street called Óstan Loch Altan (Lake Altan Hotel), named after the lake at the foot of the northern slopes of Errigal.^[10]

The local Catholic church for the parish of Gortahork is Teach Pobail Chríost Rí (Christ is King Church)^[11] located beside Óstan Loch Altan and across from Teach Bhillie pub.

Community

The arts community in the area includes visual artists, poets, singers, musicians and others from or attracted to the area.^{[citation needed]} Gort a' Choirce has been home to a documentary film festival which, in its first year, screened 30 films from 15 different countries.^[12][13]

Gortahork is mentioned in the opening lines of the Christy Moore song Lisdoonvarna.^[14]

The village is a base for wind surfers who come to Machaire Rabhartaigh Beach.^[15]

Education

There is are two primary schools in the area, Scoil Naisiunta Gort An Choirce (Gortahork National School) in the village and Cnoc na Naomh (Hill of the Saints National School) in Derryconnor.^[16] Both are gaelscoils.^[17]

There is no secondary school in the area and pupils either attend Pobalscoil Gaoth Dobhair in Derrybeg or Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola in Falcarragh.^[18]

Transport

The Falcarragh/Dungloe (route 966) TFI Local Link public bus route services the town, linking it to Falcarragh, Dungloe, Crolly, Magheroarty and the Gweedore area.

Several private bus services also service the town. These Patrick Gallagher Coaches, which provides routes from Crolly to Derry via Letterkenny,^[19] and another to Belfast via Letterkenny and Derry.^[20] John McGinley Coach Travel has a route to Dublin,^[21] Mangan Tours has a route from Meenlaragh to Letterkenny.^[22] Bus Feda operates 3 routes: a Donegal/Galway route,^[23] a college term service on a Friday to Limerick City, and a college term Sunday route with stops at University of Limerick, TUS Limerick Moylish Campus and Mary Immaculate College.^[24]

Notable people

Natives include

• Cathal Ó Searcaigh, poet
• Micí Mac Gabhann, author of Irish language book Rotha Mór an tSaoil
• Breandán Mac Cnáimhsí, translator and RTÉ newsreader

Residents include

• Gerry Adams, Former president of Sinn Féin.^[25]
• Phil Mac Giolla Bhain, journalist.
• Brian Ó Domhnaill, former Fianna Fáil politician and Independent politician.^[26][27]

References