Greencastle, County Donegal

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Greencastle An Caisleán Nua
Map
WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 55.2° N 6.9833° W (http://kvaleberg.com/extensions/mapsources/index.php?params=55.2_N_6.9833_W_region:IE_type:city) Irish Grid Reference C648397  (http://getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap/frames.htm?mapAction=gaz&gazName=g&gazString=C648397)
Town population:	570 (2002)
Rural population:	747 (2002)
Elevation:	sea level
County:	Donegal
Province:	Ulster

Greencastle, Donegal (An Caisleán Nua in Irish) is a commercial fishing port in County Donegal in the northwest of Ireland. It is located a few miles from Moville and is about 20 miles from Derry. It is likely the Greencastle name comes from the castle/fort in the area, which in turn, may have its name from the green freestone with which it was built.

The first proper pier was built in 1813¹ and has been added to several times since. Today, as well as being a tie up for trawlers and salmon boats and the home of the Greencastle Fishermen's Co-Op, the pier also has a very different 'catch'. Visitors disembark from the Magilligan-Greencastle ferry which was inaugurated in 2002². The official website advertises the fact that this saves 78km (or 49 miles) of driving, which would be through Derry. The Lough Foyle Ferry Company has also recently (2004) begun a Lough Swilly ferry service that runs between Buncrana and Rathmullan seasonally. The pier also contains a newly built pilot office to replace the decomissioned pilot office at Carrickarory Pier.

The fort at Greencastle has been linked [1] (http://www.ngw.nl/int/gbr/d/derry.htm) with the fort in the background of the Derry crest:

According to Beattie³ the fort is known as the de Burgo castle, which was built in 1305 to provide a base for Norman power in the North West. This building was named "Northburg" ⁴ and was actually built on the site of a much older fortress.

The National Fisheries College (NFC) is located also located in Greencastle. The NFC recently completed a €1.1 million extension funded under the INTERREG 11 Initiative, thus providing better facilities including a realistic simulator bridge deck.

Further Reading

• Sean Beattie (2004). Donegal. Sutton : Printing Press. ISBN 0-7509-3825-0.(Ireland in Old Photographs series) Note 1: ,Note 3:

External Links

• Greencastle Fort Information (http://www.visitinishowen.com/scenic%20tour%20files/greencastlepg.html)
• History of Greencastle church (http://www.benpalmer.co.uk/movillehistory8.htm)
• Greencastle golf club (http://www.irishgolfcourses.co.uk/north/greencastle.php)
• Donegal Library Information (http://www.donegallibrary.ie/memory/places.htm) Note 2:
• Greencastle - Magilligan Ferry (http://www.loughfoyleferry.com/)
• Foyle Ferries Info (http://www.merseyshipping.co.uk/photofeatures/shipco/foyleferries/foyleferries.htm) Note 4:

See also: List of towns in the Republic of Ireland

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) Greencastle,_County_Donegal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greencastle,_County_Donegal) version history (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greencastle,_County_Donegal&action=history) GNU Free Documentation Lizenz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License) CC-by-sa (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/)

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