Clonmany

History

The parish was home to a monastery that was founded by St Columba. It was closely associated with the Morrison family, who provided the role of erenagh. The monastery possessed the Míosach, an 11th-century copper and silver shrine, now located in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. The village is sometimes claimed to be the youngest in Inishowen. The 18th-century travel writer, Richard Pococke, did not mention the village when he toured the area in 1752. The village is mentioned in Topographia Hibernica, published in 1795. It did not feature in the census of 1841 or 1851. In the 1861 census, 112 inhabitants are recorded as living in Clonmany in 21 houses. A further 3 houses are recorded as uninhabited. In the early 19th century, Urris - a valley three miles west of Clonmany - became a centre of the illegal poitín distillation industry. The Urris Hills were an ideal place for poitín-making. The area was surrounded by mountains and only accessible through Mamore Gap and Crossconnell. Notwithstanding its remote location, Derry was about 16 miles away, providing a major market for the trade. To protect their lucrative business, the locals barricaded the road at Crossconnell to keep out revenue police, thus creating the "Poitin Republic of Urris". This period of relative independence lasted three years. But in 1815, the authorities re-established control of the Urris Hills and brought this short period of self-rule to an end. In 1840, the village experienced an earthquake, a comparatively rare event in Ireland. The shock was also felt in the nearby town of Carndonagh. The Belfast News Letter from Tuesday, 28 January 1840 reported that "In some places those who had retired to rest felt themselves shaken in their beds, and others were thrown from their chairs, and…

Most-observed species

• White Wagtail

  Motacilla alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  136
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  121
• Herring Gull

  Larus argentatus Pontoppidan, 1763 · Aves
  117
• Eurasian Oystercatcher

  Haematopus ostralegus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  113
• Northern Gannet

  Morus bassanus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  106
• Meadow Pipit

  Anthus pratensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  89
• Eurasian Wren

  Troglodytes troglodytes (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  84
• Great Cormorant/European Shag

  Phalacrocorax carbo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  83