placenamesMaghery
An Machaire
An old rectory, pilgrimage traditions and a wartime lookout preserve different chapters of Maghery’s history, while its community centre brings local groups together.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- An Machaire · Irish · main form · validated name
- Maghery · English · main form
Place & story
The former rectory
The former rectory at Maghery Glebe overlooks Maghery Bay. The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage dates the two-storey, L-plan house to around 1825 and records its hipped slate roofs, sash windows and later additions. Rubble boundary walls, stone gate piers and an outbuilding form part of its setting. The house preserves a physical reminder of the Church of Ireland clergy who served the district, alongside the separate estate property at nearby Termon. [2]
A pilgrimage at Templecrone
The community heritage account records an annual pilgrimage, or turas, at Templecrone on 7 July in honour of Saint Crone. It associates the ruined church with an earlier monastic site and describes a graveyard used by both Catholic and Protestant communities. Islanders brought their dead ashore by currach at a small harbour below Termon. These burial and pilgrimage traditions link the surrounding coastal communities with the churchyard, rather than with a single modern congregation. [3]
Watching the Atlantic
The community's heritage account identifies Crohy Head Look Out Post 74 as part of the coastal observation network established during the Second World War. Built in the winter of 1939–40, it enabled watchers to record ship and aircraft movements; telephone connections subsequently allowed reports to reach a central authority. Large letters spelling ÉIRE were laid out on the headland below, marking Irish territory for pilots. The lookout belongs to a different defence system from the area's earlier signal towers. [3]
A meeting place for local groups
By December 2018, Ionad an Mhachaire served as a base for twelve local groups, according to Tom Comack's report on a farewell event for its manager Frances Boyle. She had spent twenty-one years involved with the centre, first as a volunteer and then as manager. The band, bowling club, festival, older people's groups and preschool were among its users, while neighbouring schools and sporting organisations also used the building. The report documents the centre's role across generations. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Donegal
- Barony
- Boylagh
- Civil parish
- Templecrone
- Within
- Maghery
- Within
- Maghery Glebe
- Coordinates
- 54.92774, -8.45240 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1166430 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Maghery. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- The Rectory, Maghery Glebe, registration40905601 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Maghery: History and Heritage · Maghery community website
- Maghery send-off for dedicated manager, Frances Boyle,9December2018 · Tom Comack, Donegal Live
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2015-11-12. How this page was prepared.