Kilcar

Infobox Irish Place
name = Kilcar
gaeilge = Cill Charthaigh
crest

motto =
map

pin coords = left: 21px; top: 97px
north coord = 54.6361 | west coord = 8.4444 | irish grid = G711767
area = | elevation =
province = Ulster
county = County Donegal
town pop = 1,395 | rural pop = 2,428
census yr = 2002
web =
|

Kilcar is a small village in the south west of County Donegal, Ireland. The official [ [http://www.commissioner.ie/downloads/An_tOrdu_Logainmneacha_(Ceantair_Ghaeltachta)_2004.pdf Placenames (Ceantair Ghaeltachta) Order 2004] .] gaelic name, Cill Charthaigh, means "The Church of St. Cartha".

The village itself consists of a main street with a church at one end (nice stained glass windows) and two textile factories at the other end. In between there are a few shops and five pubs. The village has the principal tweed hand weaving facility in Donegal, with a shop selling high quality tweed products. There is also a factory producing decorative timber flooring and a producer of seaweed based cosmetic products.

"An Aislann" is a community facility which includes a library, sports hall (basketball and indoor football), a gym, computer center, and small theatre. It also has exhibits based on the history of south west Donegal and usually has an revolving exhibition of historic local photographs. It is in the same complex as the hand weaving center.

The national school is about 750 meters from the main street and the parish of Kilcar stretches all the way to the river which separates it from the next village, Carrick, which is about 6 kilometres away.

The village itself is surrounded by a variety of townlands, which with the village comprise the parish of Kilcar. They would generally be at most a square mile. The parish of Kilcar includes some 45 townlands, although the names and exact number have changed over time.

One of these townlands is Muckross (Mucros in Irish) which is a popular location for tourists due to its spectacular scenery, rock climbing, surfing beach and safe family bathing beach. It is 3km east of the village on the coast road. See the separate entry for Muckross Head.

The GAA pitch at Towney is located 2 kilometers outside the village on the coast road. It is one of the most scenically situated football pitches in Ireland.

The village is part of the Gaeltacht. However, this status is nominal, as the use of Irish is very limited in everyday conversation. The English language has enroached in recent years and is now predominant.

The indie rock band, The Revs, come from Kilcar and are often heard at the annual Kilcar Festival in August. There is a pipe band in the village which is a prominent feature of the St Patrick's Day festival in the village.

Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker own a holiday home together in the area. [http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/film-tv/news/sarah-jessica-parker-and-matthew-broderick-off-to-donegal-to-save-marriage-13932174.html]

References

External links

* [http://www.cill-chartha-kilcar.com Official Site]
* [http://www.a-wee-bit-of-ireland.com/eire_jul_2005/kilcar_10.html Photo of Kilcar village as seen from the ruins of St. Cartha's Church]
* [http://www.a-wee-bit-of-ireland.com/eire_jul_2005/kilcar_11.html Photo of the Kilcar GAA pitch]
* [http://www.cill-chartha-kilcar.com/index.html Official Website of Kilcar Tourism Committee]