Fahan

This article is about the Irish district. For Tasmanian school, see The Fahan School.

Fahan Fathain
—  Town  —
Fahan Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 55°05′20″N 7°28′42″W
Country	Ireland
Province	Ulster
County	County Donegal
Population (2002)
• Urban	338
Time zone	WET (UTC+0)
• Summer (DST)	IST (WEST) (UTC-1)
Irish Grid Reference

Fahan (Irish: Fathain, meaning "little green/field") (pronounced fawn) is a district of Inishowen, in County Donegal, Ireland, located five kilometres south of Buncrana. In Irish, Fahan is named after its patron saint, St. Mura, first abbot and patron saint of Fahan, an early Christian monastery.

History

The walled graveyard, located to the west of The Rectory, is home not only to the resting place of pioneering nurse Agnes Jones, but also to the ruins of a 6th century monastery, which features a 7th century cross-slab of St. Mura. In both the 10th and 13th centuries, the village was ransacked by Vikings. A second monastery was built in the 16th century, but fell later into decay. Cecil Frances Alexander lived in the Old Rectory in the late 19th century. Her contemporary, Agnes Jones, who trained with Florence Nightingale and nursed in the Crimean War, was born in Fahan House. Edward Maginn, a 19th century bishop, was a parish priest in Fahan. The church to the north of The Rectory contains an early 20th century stained-glass window by Evie Hone which depicts St. Elizabeth of Hungary.

Transport

• Fahan railway station opened on 9 September 1864, closed for passenger traffic on 6 September 1948 and finally closed altogether on 10 August 1953.

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  St. Mura Cross Slab from the 7th century

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  Old church from the 17th century

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  The old pier at Fahan Beach

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland
• List of abbeys and priories in Ireland (County Donegal)