- Oldtown, Letterkenny
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Oldtown
An tSeanbhaile— Town — Location in Ireland
OldtownCoordinates: 54°57′24″N 7°43′13″W / 54.9566°N 7.7204°WCoordinates: 54°57′24″N 7°43′13″W / 54.9566°N 7.7204°W Country Ireland Province Ulster County County Donegal Government – Dáil Éireann Donegal North East Elevation 52 m (171 ft) Population (2006) – Rural 1,750 Time zone WET (UTC+0) – Summer (DST) IST (WEST) (UTC-1) Area code(s) 074, +000 353 74 Irish Grid Reference C167119 Oldtown (Irish: An tSeanbhaile) is a district located in the parish of Conwal and Leck in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland. As its name suggests, it is the oldest part of the town and became the starting point of the town's development. The area contains approximately 600 residential properties.
Oldtown has a weak range of essential services with the area being limited to green spaces within housing developments and facilities serving the area being located primarily in the town centre rather than in the Oldtown neighbourhood itself.[1] The Jim Larkin Court and Gaeltex Drive apartment blocks have a serious lack of facilities. They have no play area for children and families run the risk of having one of their children wiped out by a passing car.[2]
The Bahá'í Faith Group have a centre in Oldtown.[3]
Contents
History
A view over Oldtown. Oldtown Celtic's home ground can be seen to the right.
Oldtown developed at the bridging point of the River Swilly during the Ulster Plantation in 1610. Patrick Crawford, a Scottish planter, was granted 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of land. He then formed a compact community which later became known as Oldtown. To begin with there were about fifty habitations situated in Oldtown but today the area accommodates a large portion of the town's population.[4]
Oldtown Railway Station was located on the Letterkenny & Burtonport Extension line. It opened on March 9, 1903 before finally closing for passengers and goods on January 6, 1947.[5] There is no evidence of the station in existence today, a hotel occupies the site. However, an old rail bridge may be seen spanning the River Swilly.[6]
Criminal Activity
Oldtown reportedly a location of various forms of criminal activity. In 2003 a young schoolgirl was sexually abused[7] before being killed by parasites which were found in cat faeces that she laid her hands upon.[8]
On October 24, 2007 Gardaí were called to a stand-off between two rival families. Ninja-type weapons of chains, swords and slash-hooks were produced and the families only calmed upon the intervention of a local priest. Twenty gardai and six patrol cars were in place to deal with a riot-like situation. Traffic was diverted away from the scene which occurred near the Oldtown Bridge.[9] On July 22, 2006 a man was attacked with a machete and pitchfork. The victim suffered puncture wounds to his abdomen and laceration wounds to his body. The victim's wife was also threatened but was not injured in the feud.[10] The Oldtown gang refer to themselves as the Oldtown Hoodz, a reference to gangster crime. They are a sub-division of the Letterkenny Young Thugs (LYT). They have terrorised many's an old-aged pensioner from her bed at night. On July 17, 2003 an elderly man became angered when he saw a neighbour cutting grass on his property. He fetched a double-barrelled shot gun and fired twice at the strimmer, narrowly missing his neighbour.[11] Assaults frequently occur in the area.[12]
Industry
The Hideout has been standing on this spot since the 1800'sThe Oldtown area has a proud industrial history with it being the location of many of the town's major employers. Former industries in the area include the Model Bakery [13] and the Gaeltex Factory.[14] Current employers in the area include Dunnes Stores, NowDoc,[15] Jungle King [16][17] and The Hide Out Bar (Oldtown Inn), which was established in the 19th century.[18] The pub was redeveloped in 2008 and was awarded the most improved public house by Minister for the Environment, John Gormley.[19]
Sport
Golfing facilities opened in 1913 on a 47 acre (190,000 m2) 9 hole course at Crievesmith. The course was sold in 1965 for £3000 and the club moved to its current home at Barnhill. Due to the areas growing population the land was developed into housing at the turn of the 21st century. Oldtown Celtic, founded in 1976, is the local soccer club. They play their home games at Oldtown Park.[20]
People
- John Nee, actor
- James Pius Clarke,[21] Former IRA member and Maze Prison escapee who served an 18-year prison sentence for the attempted murder of a member of a Protestant paramilitary group.[22]
- Neil Clarke, former politician
References
- ^ The Draft Letterkenny & Environs Development Plan 2009 - 2015, Part B, Pages 21 and 22
- ^ Nowhere to play for Oldtown children, Donegal News, 21 September 2009
- ^ http://www.breacais.demon.co.uk/abs/associate/associate33-34.pdf Newsletter of the Association for Bahá'í Studies, Associate Issue 33/34: Winter/Spring 2001
- ^ Letterkenny - A history
- ^ Oldtown Station Railscot - Irish Railways
- ^ File:LKBRIDGE.jpg
- ^ Police close in on little Rona sex abuse suspect The Free Library, 2003
- ^ Bug from cat faeces likely cause of schoolgirl's death Irish Independent, May 17, 2011
- ^ Ninja-type weapons used in battle of the Oldtown, Donegal News, October 26, 2007
- ^ Jailed for "savage" machete and pitch fork attack, Donegal Democrat, November 4, 2008
- ^ News in Brief, Irish Independent, February 2, 2005
- ^ Letterkenny Assault, The Argus, April 22, 2009
- ^ County Donegal Industries - Model Bakery Limited, Oldtown Letterkenny
- ^ Gaeltex factory in Oldtown, 1999
- ^ Businesses in Oldtown
- ^ Jungle King Play Centre
- ^ Jungle King Official site
- ^ The Hideout Bar
- ^ No secret to Hideout's success!, Donegal Democrat, November 4, 2008
- ^ Funding for fields at McNeely Villas, Donegal News, November 17, 2006
- ^ Dáil Éireann - Volume 412 - 13 November, 1991,Private Members' Business. - Nomination of Members of Government: Motion (Resumed)
- ^ Irish High Court Bars Extraditing 2 in I.R.A., New York Times, March 15, 1990
External links
- Dáil Éireann - Volume 312 - 07 March, 1979. - County Donegal Industries
- No secret to Hideout's success!, Donegal Democrat, November 4, 2008
- Jailed for "savage" machete and pitch fork attack, Donegal Democrat, November 4, 2008
- Ninja-type weapons used in battle of the Oldtown, Donegal News, October 26, 2007
Letterkenny Districts 
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