placenamesDerrybeg
Doirí Beaga
Derrybeg’s history connects the Land War, a devastating nineteenth-century flood and the creation of Irish-language broadcasting.
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
- Doirí Beaga · Irish · main form · validated name
- Derrybeg · English · main form
Place & story
The old chapel and the flood
Five people drowned when floodwater entered Derrybeg’s old chapel during Mass on 15 August 1880. The youngest was thirteen-year-old altar server Séamus Ó Fearraigh; the congregation also included people from surrounding villages and islands. In August 2016, parishioners gathered in the old building for a commemorative Mass, with singing by the St Mary’s choir. The ceremony showed how the tragedy remained part of local memory long after a new parish church opened nearby in 1972. [2]
James MacFadden and the Land War
James MacFadden became administrator of Gweedore in 1873 and parish priest in 1875. He organised relief and campaigned over rents, becoming a prominent supporter of the Plan of Campaign. On 3 February 1889, District Inspector William Martin was killed by rioters while attempting to arrest him after Sunday Mass. MacFadden and parishioners faced prosecution; the eventual agreement released the priest while other defendants pleaded guilty to manslaughter and obstruction. These events brought the parish into national political debate. [3]
A Donegal broadcasting centre
Derrybeg became one of Raidió na Gaeltachta’s first regional bases. The Irish-language service began broadcasting on Easter Sunday, 2 April 1972, and RTÉ’s archive records the Derrybeg and Kerry studios operating within its first year alongside the main Connemara centre. The station gave Gaeltacht communities a dedicated broadcasting service. Derrybeg’s role placed local voices within a network connecting Irish-speaking districts across the country, rather than treating the Donegal Gaeltacht as a remote audience alone. [4]
The parish church fire of 2025
The newer St Mary’s Church was destroyed by fire in the early hours of 21 April 2025, the morning after a crowded Easter Sunday service. In its statement that day, the parish described the loss of a community meeting place as well as a place of worship, thanked the emergency services and pledged to rebuild. This later disaster belongs to the history of the newer church and should be distinguished from the flood in its nineteenth-century predecessor. [5]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Town
- County
- Donegal
- Barony
- Kilmacrenan
- Within
- Magheraclogher
- Coordinates
- 55.08996, -8.28193 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1414071 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Derrybeg. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Mass recalls tragic Gaoth Dobhair flood, 23 August 2016 · Donegal Democrat, Editorial Team
- MacFadden, James · Patrick Maume, Dictionary of Irish Biography
- Raidió na Gaeltachta Begins Broadcasting, 1972 · RTÉ Archives
- Paróiste Ghaoth Dobhair statement following church fire, 21 April 2025 · Paróiste Ghaoth Dobhair, reproduced in full by Donegal Daily
- St Mary’s Church, Derrybeg, before the 2025 fire illustration: based on a Derrybegchurch — Teach Phobail Doire Beaga by Matt Beal. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0; adapted illustration distributed under the same licence.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2012-01-11. How this page was prepared.