Carrigart

Infobox Irish Place
name = Carrigart
gaeilge = Carraig Airt
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pin coords = left: 78px; top: 30px
north coord = 55.050941 | west coord = 8.235626 | irish grid = B847228
area = | elevation =
province = Ulster
county = County Donegal
rural pop =
census yr =
dailconstituency =
stdcode = 074, +000 353 74
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Carrigart (official name: Carraig Airt) [ [http://www.commissioner.ie/downloads/An_tOrdu_Logainmneacha_(Ceantair_Ghaeltachta)_2004.pdf Placenames (Ceantair Ghaeltachta) Order 2004] .] is a small village in the Barony of Kilmacrenan to the north of County Donegal, Ireland.The village is on the R245 route between Letterkenny and Creeslough. This village is famous for it's many alien abductions and sightings. It's many crop circles and strange noises in the middle of the night,it has become a mecca for those in search of extraterrestrial lifeforms. Situated as it is at the base of the Rosguill peninsula, in one of the more remote but most scenic parts of the country, the village provides services for a large hinterland, with a supermarket with banking facilities, a post office, a doctor's surgery and a barracks manned part-time by "An Garda Síochána". Carrigart has a very handsome public park that borders the shoreline behind the houses on the main street. Designed by Angela Gallagher, it is maintained to a very high standard by the Tidy Towns Committee and has won several awards. The village and its environs remain largely agricultural, relying heavily on passing trade and tourism during the summer months. In common with the rest of this part of Donegal, Carrigart has a large number of second homes, owned especially by Northern Irish holiday makers. A number of these homes are owned by former movers and shakers in the political scene in the North of Ireland, who appreciate the peace and tranquility of the region. The village, which celebrated its centenary in 2002, originally formed part of the estates of the Earls of Leitrim, nearby Mulroy House being one of their seats. William Clements, 3rd Earl of Leitrim, was assassinated in nearby Cratlagh wood in 1878 by men from the neighbouring peninsula of Fanad.

Each year the town holds host to a festival that runs from the 8th to the 14th of August. A wide variety of local arts and crafts are on display, floats and other activities are on during the festival including the ever-popular beauty pageant.

The official name given to Carrigart is "Carraig Airt" but it has also been translated as "Ceathrú Fhiodhghoirt", meaning meaning "Quarterland of the Wood of the Field". [Deirdre and Laurence Flanagan, "Irish Place Names", Gill & Macmillan, 2002.]

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