Gweedore Gaeltacht (Gaoth Dobhair)

The largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland, in northwest Donegal, and a stronghold of Ulster Irish and traditional music.

Gaoth Dobhair (Gweedore), in northwest County Donegal, is often described as the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland. Set against the mountain of Errigal and a rugged Atlantic coast, it is a stronghold of the distinctive Ulster dialect of Irish.

The area has a remarkable musical heritage, having produced the internationally known bands Clannad and Altan and the singer Enya. Like other strong Gaeltacht areas, Irish remains a living, everyday language here.

At a glance

• Often called the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland, in NW Donegal.
• A stronghold of the Ulster dialect of Irish.
• Birthplace of the musicians Clannad, Altan and Enya.
• Overlooked by Errigal, Donegal's highest peak.

In County Donegal

Gweedore Gaeltacht is in County Donegal, Dún na nGall in Irish, which means “fort of the foreigners (the Vikings)”.

More in Donegal

• Slieve League (Sliabh Liag): Among the highest sea cliffs in Europe, rising almost 600 metres from the Atlantic in County Donegal.
• Errigal (An Earagail): Donegal's highest peak, a quartzite cone that glows pink at sunset.
• Malin Head (Cionn Mhálanna): The northernmost point of the island of Ireland.
• Glenveagh National Park (Páirc Náisiúnta Ghleann Bheatha): A vast wilderness of mountains, lakes and a fairytale castle.

Other places of this kind

• Connemara Gaeltacht (Conamara): The largest and best-known Irish-speaking region, a wild landscape of bog, mountain and Atlantic coastline.
• Corca Dhuibhne (Dingle Peninsula) (Corca Dhuibhne): The Dingle Peninsula Gaeltacht, a Munster-Irish heartland rich in early Christian sites and Ogham stones.
• An Rinn (Ring) (An Rinn): A small but proud Gaeltacht on the southeast coast, and the main surviving Irish-speaking community in the region.
• Múscraí (Muskerry) (Gaeltacht Mhúscraí): The Cork Gaeltacht in the hills of Muskerry, a Munster-Irish community with a rich song tradition.
• Ráth Chairn (Ráth Chairn): Ireland's youngest Gaeltacht, created in 1935 when Irish-speaking families were resettled from Connemara.

The Irish name

The Irish form of Gweedore Gaeltacht is Gaoth Dobhair. You can hear it spoken, and take apart names like it, in the Placename Explorer. The authoritative record for any Irish place-name is logainm.ie.