Oldtown, Letterkenny

Oldtown existed as a Native Irish settlement before the plantation of Ulster, which saw Patrick Crawford develop the market town on the other side of the Swilly at the Oldtown Bridge. The early inhabitants of the Oldtown spoke Gaelic and their main food source came from fishing the Swilly estuary which flowed up to Conwal Cemetery; they also raised livestock on the hillside where Leck Graveyard is today.

Oldtown railway station was located on the Letterkenny & Burtonport Extension line. It opened on 9 March 1903 before finally closing for passengers and goods on 6 January 1947.[2] 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.[3]

The stone bridge which allows residents passage to the town is appropriately old, but also crumbling.[4]

Oldtown suffers from overpopulation issues.[9]

The Hideout has been standing on this spot since the 1800s.

Residents may purchase their bread, milk and toiletries at Oldtown Stores [10] or Larkin's Shop.[11] Old Dunnes, the nearest department store to the area, is located on the opposite side of the Oldtown Bridge.

Former industries in the Oldtown include the Model Bakery,[12] where the local children would gather to be fed free buns.[5] There was also the Gaeltex Factory.[13] Charlie Devlin had a mobile shop.[5] Current employers in the area include Dunnes Stores, NowDoc,[14] Jungle King[15][16] and The Hide Out Bar (Oldtown Inn), which was established in the 19th century.[17] The pub was redeveloped in 2008 and was awarded the most improved public house by the then Minister for the Environment, John Gormley. However, its new owner John G. Larkin, had ties with Dessie Larkin, the Fianna Fáil mayor and councillor (Gormley was in coalition with Fianna Fáil at this time).[18] The pub was later renamed The Snug.[19]

A fire occurred at the Model Bakery in April 2020.[9]

Old Leck Church is situated in Oldtown, as is the adjacent Old Leck Graveyard. The nearby New Leck Graveyard, which alongside Conwal Cemetery houses the town's dead, is also located within Oldtown.[20]

The nearest primary school is Scoil Colmcille. Secondary education for young men is provided by St Eunan's College, girls are sent to the nuns at the local convent and a "vocational school" is also available, though each is a significant walking distance from the area. Some residents have also taken posts as teachers in the local primary and secondary schools.[5]

• James Pius "Jim" Clarke – footballer who played for Donegal[21]
• Seán Maloney – served as a Labour Panel Senator in Seanad Éireann[5]
• Ryan McConnell – former association football player with Manchester United and Finn Harps[22][23][24]
• John Nee – actor

The area contains approximately 600 residential properties.

Residential areas include Brookcourt,[27] Luí Na Gréine and Ros Suilighe.

The Jim Larkin Court and Gaeltex Drive blocks of flats are regarded as having a serious lack of facilities. They have no play area for children and families run the risk of having one of their children seriously injured or killed by a passing car.[28]

McNeely Villas, developed by Con Harvey and named in honour of the then recently deceased Bishop of Raphoe William MacNeely, was built in 1969 and opened the following year.[5] Originally comprising 40 houses, four others were later added.[5] One resident, Margaret Doherty, was renowned for pursuing the local council to "make sure things were done right".[5] At its fiftieth anniversary in 2020, one third of the original residents still lived there.[5]