Father McFadden the fighting priest of Gweedore
In the parish of Gweedore on the Wild Atlantic Way, a man of faith who fought for the rights of his parishioners against unjust foreign landlords is still celebrated 102 years after his death.
The Battle of Tory Island
The last battle of the United Irishman led rebellion of 1798 was not fought, by Irishmen or even on an Irish battlefield, but at sea, off the stormy waters of Tory Island in a navel engagement between the French and British navies. History records this as the battle of Tory Island.
Old church of Dunlewey
The old church of Dunlewey, the Donegal Taj Mahal
Black Jack Adair and the Derryveagh Evictions
It is often said that everyone is well thought off when they die, but there is one man with links to Gweedore of whom that can never be said. He was the Landlord ‘Black’ Jack Adair, the mastermind of the infamous Derryveagh Evictions.
The great flood in Gweedore
On the 15th August 1880 tragedy struck the parish of Gweedore, while parish priest Father James McFadden said Mass in a packed St Mary’s Chapel in Derrybeg. This is known in Gweedore as the great flood, while the Irish Times would describe the event as the Gweedore catastrophe.
The sinking of HMS Wasp
In September 1884, a royal navy gunboat on route to carry out an eviction sunk off the coast of Tory Island in Donegal. Smashed on rocks, she sank in just 15 minutes and 52 men perished. The official cause of the sinking was due to negligence, but rumour and folklore persist that sabotage or even a curse could be responsible for the sinking of HMS Wasp