placenamesPortnablahy
Port na Bláiche
Portnablahy’s maritime history appears in accounts of its crowded harbour and the later reuse of coastguard buildings.
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
- Port na Bláiche · Irish · main form · validated name
- Portnablahy · English · main form
- Portnablagh · English · main form · local name
Place & story
The need for a better harbour
A 1974 history of Holy Trinity Church described Portnablagh’s crowded summer moorings and the care local boat owners took of one another’s craft. It called for a larger harbour with permanent deep water, recording both the needs of fishermen and the growth of leisure boating. The question of repairs remained a public issue: in June 2009 Minister Brendan Smith told the Dáil that the pier belonged to Donegal County Council and that the council had not included it in its applications for that year’s harbour programme. [2] [3]
A coastguard building reused
A building at Rockhill which formerly formed part of the coastguard station found a later use as the Cove Restaurant. Fáilte Ireland dates the building to 1880. Its survival provides a connection between the district’s nineteenth-century maritime administration and its more recent role as a place for visitors to Sheephaven Bay. [4]
Archaeological testing at Faugher
A recorded bullaun stone at Faugher prompted archaeological testing of a proposed house site in October 2024. Seán Shanahan and Graeme Laidlaw excavated three trenches within the development area and found no archaeological features, deposits or finds. Their report identifies the stone as a recorded monument, but the negative results concern only the ground tested; they do not establish a date or function for the stone itself. [5]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Donegal
- Barony
- Kilmacrenan
- Civil parish
- Clondahorky
- Coordinates
- 55.17112, -7.92153 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 14322 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Portnablahy. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Holy Trinity Church, Dunfanaghy: Centenary History, 1974 · Holy Trinity Church, Dunfanaghy
- Harbours and Piers: written answer, 9 June 2009 · Houses of the Oireachtas; Brendan Smith
- Cove Restaurant, Portnablaghy · Fáilte Ireland
- 2024:538, Faugher, Portnablagh, licence 24 E 1037 · Seán Shanahan and Graeme Laidlaw, Shanarc Archaeology Ltd.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.