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Civil parish

Urney

An Urnaí

Two buildings within the Donegal parish record different scales of nineteenth-century investment in worship and education.

Watercolour and fine ink illustration of Saint Columba's Church at Doneyloop, County Donegal, as photographed in July 2011.
Illustration, Saint Columba's Church at Doneyloop, County Donegal, as photographed in July 2011
Recorded locationUrney54.77491° N · 7.57076° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Recorded place location · Logainm.ie

The name

A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.

Recorded forms

  • An Urnaí · Irish · main form
  • Urney · English · main form

Place & story

Saint Columba’s at Doneyloop

Saint Columba’s Church at Dunnaloob was built in 1867–68 to John O’Neill’s design, under the supervision of James Connolly. Dedicated on 18 October 1868, it received its tower and spire in 1890–91. The church’s cross-shaped plan includes a rounded chancel with chapels beside it. Dark walling contrasts with carefully worked sandstone around the openings. Its present skyline therefore includes a substantial addition completed more than twenty years after the main church. [2]

The former school in Alt Lower

The earlier Alt National School dates from about 1860. In 2012 the architectural survey recorded it serving as an outbuilding beside the Presbyterian meeting house. Rubble-stone walls, sash windows and a slate roof preserved much of its nineteenth-century character. The inventory suggests possible Sunday-school use because of that setting, but does not establish it. Later school buildings nearby record successive changes in local educational provision. [3]

Geographic information

Place type
Civil parish
County
Donegal
Coordinates
54.77491, -7.57076
Logainm ID
823 ↗

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Urney. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. Saint Columba’s Catholic Church, NIAH40907915 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
  3. Former Alt National School, NIAH40907935 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
  4. Saint Columba's Church at Doneyloop, County Donegal, as photographed in July 2011 illustration: based on a St Columba's RC Church, Doneyloop by Kenneth Allen. AI-assisted watercolour and fine ink adaptation of credited photograph; cream paper margins added, registration plates and wires omitted, architectural arrangement and parked-car occlusion retained. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2026-08-05. How this page was prepared.