Donacarney

Donacarney Domhnach Cairnigh Mór
—  Town  —
Donacarney Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 53°42′34″N 6°16′42″W
Country	Ireland
Province	Leinster
County	County Meath
Area
• Town	2.19 km2 (0.85 sq mi)
Elevation	1 m (3 ft)
Population (2006)
• Urban	3,000
Time zone	WET (UTC+0)
• Summer (DST)	IST (WEST) (UTC-1)
Irish Grid Reference

Donacarney (Irish: Domhnach Cearnaigh or Domhnach Cairnigh) is a village in County Meath, Ireland, close to the border with County Louth. It contains one church, two estates, two schools and a pub. Although it includes the townlands of Donacarney Great and Donacarney Little, most locals would never use those terms in describing Donacarney. The remains of a late-medieval tower house (see picture to right) is sited close to Donacarney Cross. It is described in the Civil Survey (1654-56) as 'an ould Castle'. It appears in this state on a map of 1771.

Schools

Donacarney contains two schools: One boys school and a girls school. Roughly 600 pupils attend both schools. The schools share the same campus. The name of the school is Réalt ná Mara B.N.S and Réalt ná Mara G.N.S respectively. The Old School Hall replaced by the current schools in 1965 originally opened in 1873. The red-bricked building, beside the forge and old village water-pump at Donacarney cross, now serves as a community centre. It is also used as the local polling centre in elections.

Religion

There is one Roman Catholic church in Donacarney. It is called Star of the Sea Church. It is also called Mornington Church, after the next townland.

Development

New Housing Estate

Despite the overcrowded schools, and rejected planning permissions, An Bhord Pleana has overruled them all and allowed planning permission for 700 3-4 bedroom homes. This has angered the entire area.

Shannon Homes

Shannon Homes has gained planning permission for a small retail complex in Donacarney. It is not known exactly what this will contain. It will though, contain a pharmacy.

New School

The government has agreed to let Réalt ná Mara build a new school. The school will cost €500,000 to build including land buying. The government though will only pay €100,000. The school has all ready made over €150,000 from a raffle held in March 2008.

Controversy

On the 7th August 2009, a large drugs seizure in the Donacarney area was reported in the Irish Media. 6 kg of Cocaine with an estimated value of €430,000 was recovered during a search of a house by an Garda Siochana. These drugs would have paid for the new school. (?)

Distance to Places

(As The Crow Flies)

• Mornington: 1.23 km
• Laytown: 4.23 km
• Drogheda: 5.05 km
• Bettystown: 2.75 km
• Dublin: 41.92 km
• Galway: 189.77 km
• Belfast: 100.78 km
• Navan: 27.43 km
• Cork: 250.6 km