Donegal Dún na nGall
—  Town  —
Donegal Town
Coat of arms
Donegal Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 54°39′00″N 8°07′01″W / 54.650°N 8.117°W / 54.650; -8.117Coordinates: 54°39′00″N 8°07′01″W / 54.650°N 8.117°W / 54.650; -8.117
Country	Ireland
Province	Ulster
County	County Donegal
Dáil Éireann	Donegal South–West
EU Parliament	North–West
Elevation	32 m (105 ft)
Population (2006)[1]
• Urban	2,339
Irish Grid Reference	G924789
Dialing code	+353 74
Website	www.donegaltown.ie

Donegal or Donegal Town ( /ˈdʌnɨɡɔːl/ or /ˌdʌnɨˈɡɔːl/; Irish: Dún na nGall)^[2] is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. Its name, which was historically written in English as Dunnagall or Dunagall, translates from Irish as "stronghold of the foreigners" (i.e. the Vikings).

Donegal gave its name to County Donegal, although Lifford is now the county town. Until the early 1600s, Donegal was the 'capital' of Tír Chonaill, a gaelic kingdom controlled by the O'Donnell Clan of the Cenél Conaill. Donegal sits at the mouth of the River Eske and Donegal Bay, which is overshadowed by the Bluestack Mountains ('the Croaghs'). The town is bypassed by the N15 and N56 roads. The centre of the town, known as "The Diamond", is a hub for music, poetic and cultural gatherings in the area.

History[link]

Approaching Donegal Town by sea.

There is evidence for settlements around the town dating back to prehistoric times including the remains of round forts and other earth works.

It is generally accepted by historians that St. Patrick was captured by raiders from the Clans governed by Niall of the Nine Hostages and that this region is that to which St. Patrick returned; being familiar with the people, language, customs and lands. The first Clan to convert to Christianity as the result of St Patrick's efforts was the Clan Connaill (also known at one time as Clan Dalaigh: in English, this is pronounced Daley and it translates as "one in a leadership role"). Connaill was a son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. As a result on their acceptance of Christianity, St Patrick bless the clan members and the sign of the Cross appeared on the chieftains shield and this became not only the coat of arms for the clan but also for County Donegal (up until the early 1970s).

Donegal Town itself is famous for being the former center of government of the dynasty of O'Donnell of Tyrconnell, who played a pivotal role in Irish history, and whose original homeland lay further to the north in the area of Kilmacrenan. From the 15th to the 17th century, they were an important part of the opposition to the colonisation of Ireland by England. The town itself contains Donegal castle, on the banks of the River Eske and the remains of a Franciscan abbey which dates back to the 15th century on the Southern shore of the Bay. The Annals of the Four Masters written in the abbey in the early 17th century. The story of Aodh Rua Ó Domhnaill (Red Hugh O'Donnell), Lord of Tyrconnell, was the inspiration behind many books and films, not least, Disney's The Fighting Prince of Donegal (1966).

After the Flight of the Earls in 1607 the castle and its lands were given to an English captain, Basil Brooke, as part of the Plantation of Ulster. Brooke carried out major reconstruction work and added a wing to the castle in the Jacobean style. The current plan of the town was also laid out including an attractive town square or Diamond. From the late 17th until the early 20th centuries, Donegal Town formed part of the vast estates of the Gore family (from 1762 Earls of Arran) and it while in their ownership that the town took on its present appearance.^{[citation needed]} Donegal Borough returned two members to the Parliament of Ireland until the Act of Union 1800. Evidence of the Irish Famine still exists including a workhouse, whose buildings are now part of the local hospital, and many famine graves.

Industry and tourism[link]

Part of the Diamond in Donegal

There are many sandy beaches in the area of Donegal, such as Murvagh beach, and some boasting good surfing conditions, such as Rossnowlagh. Donegal is also used as a base for hill-walking in the nearby Bluestack Mountains. Despite the town's many hotels catering for visitors, it suffers from a lack of social amenities for its local population. Many have to travel to nearby towns such as Letterkenny for facilities like public swimming pools, cinemas and large shopping centres.^[3]

Waterloo Place.

Traditionally the largest employer in the town has been Magee of Donegal, who are manufacturers of tweed garments, some of which could, in the past, be seen being woven by hand on small looms in the company's department store.^{[citation needed]} Like most clothing manufacturers in Ireland, the size of the workforce has been in decline for many years. Donegal also has a long tradition of weaving carpets. Donegal Carpets have been made in Killybegs for over one hundred years and have been found in Áras an Uachtaráin, the University of Notre Dame and the White House.

Transport[link]

The Bus Éireann service number 64 Derry/Galway route which makes several other stops including Letterkenny and Sligo (which allows for rail connections by Iarnród Éireann, Official site - Timetables, bookings and operations from Sligo railway station to Dublin Connolly) and the number 30 Donegal/Dublin route which makes stops at other key towns such as Enniskillen (which provides connections to Belfast via Ulsterbus).^[4] Two private companies operate the other routes: 'McGeehan Bus' operates a regular service, from West Donegal to Dublin Airport and Busaras in Dublin, which passes through the town;^[5] while Feda O'Donnell Coaches (also known as Bus Feda) operates a regular Glenties/Galway service that stops in Donegal.^[6]

Donegal railway station opened on 16 September 1889 and finally closed on 1 January 1960.^[7] The site of the old station is now used by CIÉ as a bus depot while the actual building is the home of the Donegal Railway Heritage Centre.^[8]

Sport[link]

Donegal town centre at night.

Donegal town is home to many amateur sports clubs. The most popular sport in the area is Gaelic football and the local Gaelic Athletic Association club is The Four Masters.^[9] The club also has been developing hurling. Other popular sports include soccer, rugby union, basketball and athletics.

Donegal Town was host to the final stage of the World Rally Championship on Feb 1st 2009 and was viewed by 68 million people worldwide.

Media[link]

The town is home to the regional newspapers Donegal Democrat and Donegal Post and the local Donegal Times^[10] newspaper.The Northwest Express regional newspaper is also distributed throughout the town and surrounding county. Ocean FM, an independent regional radio station, has one of its three studios in the town, which broadcasts to most of south County Donegal. Donegal Town was host to the final stage of the World Rally Championship on Feb 1st 2009 and viewed by 68 million people worldwide. Donegal is mentioned in the song 'It's Long Way Home To Donegal' by the indie band Larrikin Love.

The town during Christmas 2008.

Notable people from Donegal[link]

• Colonel Robertson, soldier and philanthropist
• John White, Conservative MP in the Canadian House of Commons
• Alexander Porter, United States Senator

See also[link]

• Abbey Vocational School
• List of abbeys and priories in Ireland (County Donegal)
• List of towns and villages in Ireland

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Aldwell, B. 2003. A survey of local resident butterflies in County Donegal. Bull. Ir. biogeog. Soc. No. 27. 202–226.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Donegal

• Official town website
• Donegal Public Art

v t e Places in County Donegal County town: Lifford Towns Ballybofey Ballyshannon Buncrana Bundoran Carndonagh Convoy Donegal Dungloe Killybegs Letterkenny Lifford Moville Ramelton Raphoe Stranorlar Villages Annagry Ardara Ballintra Ballyliffin Bridgend Bruckless Burtonport Carrigans Carrigart Castlefin Churchill Cloghan Clonmany Creeslough Crolly Doochary Dunfanaghy Dunkineely Fahan Falcarragh Fintown Frosses Glen Glencolmcille Glenties Greencastle Gweedore Inver Kerrykeel Kilcar Killea Killygordon Laghy Lettermacaward Loughanure Malin Manorcunningham Milford Mountcharles Muff Narin Newtowncunningham Pettigo Portnablagh Quigley's Point Rathmullan Rossnowlagh St Johnston Teelin Townlands Ardagh Bunbeg Burt Carnamoyle Clonglash Derrybeg Downings Drumardagh Drumrainy Gartan Gortahork Kilmacrenan Kincasslagh Magheroarty Porthall Portsalon Ranafast Termon Urris Islands Arranmore Cruit Glashedy Gola Inishbofin Inishtrahull Totten Rutland Tory List of townlands in County Donegal Category:Mountains and hills of County Donegal Category:Rivers of County Donegal Category:Geography of County Donegal

Paul Brady
Background information
Birth name	Paul Joseph Brady
Born	(1947-05-19) 19 May 1947 (age 65)
Origin	Strabane, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Genres	Folk, pop, traditional Irish
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, mandolin, bouzouki, tin whistle
Years active	1965–present
Associated acts	Planxty, The Johnstons
Website	http://www.paulbrady.com/

Paul Joseph Brady (born 19 May 1947)^[1] is an Irish singer-songwriter, whose work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age. During his career he has passed through several major bands and on to a successful solo phase. Initially popular for playing traditional Irish music in a duo with Andy Irvine and later with Tommy Peoples and Matt Molloy, he later turned to a more rock inspired electric style with poignant political lyrics. Among his most popular songs are "Crazy Dreams", "Nothing but the Same Old Story", "The Island", "Night Hunting" (covered by Santana), and "Steel Claw" and "Paradise is Here"(covered by Tina Turner). ^[2]

Background[link]

Brady was born in the small town of Strabane in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, on the border with County Donegal, Republic of Ireland. His father Seán Brady was a music teacher teaching the flute. Brady was educated at Sion Mills Primary School, St. Columb's College, Derry and University College Dublin.^[3] He is prominently featured in the documentary film The Boys of St. Columb’s. He began learning piano around age six and by the age of eleven he had begun to play guitar, spending hours of his school holidays learning every tune the Shadows and The Ventures recorded, and was also strongly influenced by Chuck Berry. In 1963, Brady began performing as a hotel piano player in Bundoran, Donegal. He attended University College Dublin in October 1964 and performed with a string of RnB groups, covering songs by the likes of Ray Charles and James Brown. The first of these was 'The Inmates' (late 1964-about April 1965), who evolved into 'The Kult' (about April–December 1965), featuring Brady, Jackie McAuley (ex-Them, and future Belfast Gypsies and Trader Horne), Brendan Bonass, and Dave Pennefather. Brady can be seen in the film Charlie Is My Darling waiting outside Dublin's Adelphi Theatre for the Rolling Stones' 3 September 1965 concert. He next joined 'Rootzgroup' (late 1965-May 1966) and 'Rockhouse' (about May–December 1966).^[4]

Musical career[link]

1960s and 1970s[link]

During his time at college in Dublin, the country saw a huge rise in interest in traditional Irish music. Brady joined the popular Irish band The Johnstons when Michael Johnston left in May 1967. They moved to London, UK in 1969 and subsequently to New York City in 1972 to expand their audience. Despite some success, Brady returned to Ireland in 1974 to join the Irish group Planxty. This was the band that was to launch the solo careers of Andy Irvine, Liam O'Flynn, Dónal Lunny, and Christy Moore. Planxty dissolved and from 1976 to 1978 he played as a duo with Andy Irvine, a relationship which produced Andy Irvine and Paul Brady. The album was hugely successful and garnered much critical acclaim. The next few years saw him establish his popularity and reputation as one of Ireland's best interpreters of traditional songs. His versions of ballads like Arthur McBride and The Lakes of Pontchartrain were considered definitive and are still popular at concerts today. In 1975 in New York he recorded three albums for Shanachie Records as guitar accompanist to resident Irish fiddlers Andy McGann, Paddy Reynolds and John Vesey. He also recorded a 1976 album for the same label with Irish fiddler Tommy Peoples.^[5]

Solo career[link]

In 1978, Brady released his first solo album, Welcome Here Kind Stranger.^[6] It won him critical acclaim and it was awarded the Melody Maker Folk Album of the Year, however, it would prove to be Brady's last album with traditional material. He decided to delve into pop and rock music, and released his first album of this genre in 1981, Hard Station. The completely self-penned record received mixed reviews, some fans of his older traditional material were not convinced, while the majority recognised his great talent of writing rock music. Brady released a number of successful solo albums throughout the 1980s, True For You (1983), Back to the Centre (1985), and Primitive Dance (1987). By the end of the decade, Brady was recognised and accepted as a respected performer and songwriter. His songs were being covered by a number of other artists, including Santana and Dave Edmunds. For a full list of artists who have covered his songs see his own website http://www.paulbrady.com . Contrary to what is often written, Brady doesn't write for other artists but for his own self-expression. Other artists pick up on his songs because of the inherent quality. When Tina Turner heard a demo of his song 'Paradise Is Here' she recorded it for her Break Every Rule album of 1986. By now he was a favourite songwriter among such artists as Bob Dylan and Bonnie Raitt, who would do a duet with Brady on his 1991 LP, Trick or Treat. A couple of Brady songs soon appeared on Raitt's album Luck of the Draw, including the title track.

Bob Dylan was sufficiently impressed by Brady's work to name-check him in the booklet of his 1985 box set "Biograph'. The actual quote was “..people get too famous too fast these days and it destroys them. Some guys got it down- Leonard Cohen, Paul Brady, Lou Reed, secret heroes,- John Prine, David Allen Coe,Tom Waits. I listen more to that kind of stuff than whatever is popular at the moment. They’re not just witchdoctoring up the planet, they don’t set up barriers…". Again, contrary to what has become accepted fact, Bob Dylan never said that Paul Brady was 'one of the five artists worth getting out of bed for'. That was a paraphrase of the original quote by a journalist in an 80's UK music paper.

Since his Hard Station album (1981) Brady has been on various major labels until the late 90s when he started his own label, PeeBee Music. He released three albums in the 1990s, Trick or Treat, a remixed compilation of earlier songs 'Songs And Crazy Dreams' and Spirits Colliding. They were met with critical acclaim. Trick or Treat was on Fontana/Mercury Records, and received a lot of promotion. As a result, some critics considered it his debut and noted that the record benefited from the expertise of experienced studio musicians as well as producer Gary Katz, who worked with the rock group Steely Dan. Rolling Stone, after praising Brady's earlier but less-known solo records, called Trick or Treat Brady's "most compelling collection."

To date (Nov 2010) Brady has gone on to record several other albums (15 in total since he went solo in 1978) and collaborated with Bonnie Raitt and Richard Thompson to name but two. For a complete list of his many collaborations see his own website. In 2006 he collaborated with Cara Dillon on the track The Streets of Derry from her album After the Morning. He has also worked with Fiachra Trench.

He performed Gaelic songs as a character in the 2002 Matthew Barney film Cremaster 3. He also played tin whistle on the single "One" by Greg Pearle in 2008, from the album Beautiful You a collaboration between Greg Pearle and John Illsley. This song "One" featured in the 2008 film Anton, directed by Graham Cantwell.

Brady's fifteenth studio album 'Hooba Dooba' was released in March 2010.^[7] Widely acclaimed as one of his finest (see reviews on his website) he continues to tour, record and collaborate in a variety of creative projects around the globe.

Awards[link]

In 2009 Brady received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Ulster in recognition of his services to traditional Irish music and songwriting.^[8][9]

Solo discography[link]

• Welcome Here Kind Stranger (1978)
• Hard Station (1981)
• True for You (1983)
• Back to the Centre (1985)
• Full Moon (1986)
• Primitive Dance (1987)
• Trick or Treat (1991)
• Songs & Crazy Dreams (Compilation) (1992)
• Spirits Colliding (1995)
• Nobody Knows: The Best of Paul Brady (Compilation) (1999)
• Oh What a World (2000)
• 'The Paul Brady Songbook' (album and DVD) Live recordings for RTE TV series (2002)
• 'The (Missing) Liberty Tapes' (2003) [Recorded Live at Liberty Hall, Dublin, July 21, 1978]
• Say What You Feel (2005)
• 'Hooba Dooba' (2010)
• 'Dancer In The Fire: A Paul Brady Anthology' (Compilation) (2012)

With Andy Irvine[link]

• Andy Irvine and Paul Brady (1976)

With Tommy Peoples[link]

• The High Part of the Road (1975)

With Matt Molloy and Tommy Peoples[link]

• Molloy, Brady, Peoples (1977)

With Andy McGann and Paddy Reynolds[link]

• Fiddle Duet (1976)

With Andy McGann[link]

• It's A Hard Road to Travel (1977)

With John Kavanagh[link]

• The Green Crow Caws (1980)

DVDs[link]

• The Transatlantic Sessions Series 3 (2007) (various artists)
• The Paul Brady Songbook (2002)

External links[link]

• Paul Brady Homepage
• Paul Brady on Facebook
• Paul Brady on Twitter
• Paul Brady & Andy Irvine - Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore
• Paul Brady & Andy Irvine - The Lakes of Ponchartrain

References[link]

Samuel R. Moffet (March 14, 1857 – May 5, 1907) was an outfielder and pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played all or parts of three seasons between 1884 and 1888 for the Cleveland Blues and Indianapolis Hoosiers. Moffet stood at 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) and weighed 175 lbs. His brother, Joe, also played in the major leagues.^[1]

Biography[link]

Sam Moffet was born in Wheeling, West Virginia when it was still part of Virginia. He played on amateur baseball teams as a teenager, and in 1882 he batted .404 for the Wheeling Standards.^[2] The following season, Moffet started his professional baseball career with the Northwestern League's Toledo Blue Stockings. He was a pitcher for Toledo and also played at first base and third base.^[2]

In 1884, Moffet made it to the major leagues with the Cleveland Blues. The Blues finished in seventh place, and Moffet, as their third starter, went just 3–19.^[3] The three wins all came in a single week from August 11 to August 18.^[2] Moffet's .136 winning percentage is tied for the fifth-lowest by a rookie in MLB history,^[4] and it was also the lowest winning percentage of any MLB pitcher during the 1880s.^[5] In addition to pitching, Moffet also played 42 games in the outfield that season. He batted .184 in 256 at bats.^[1]

After the season ended, Moffet went to Butte, Montana, and joined two of his brothers in a mining venture. They extracted over $200,000 worth of gold and silver over the next year, and Moffet was out of professional baseball in 1885 and 1886.^[2] In 1887, he returned to the majors with the Indianapolis Hoosiers, and he went 1–5 on the mound while batting .122.^[1] He didn't fare any better in 1888 and was released in mid-season.^[2]

Moffet then returned to Montana. In March 1889, The Meriden Daily Journal reported that he had "struck so rich in mining in Montana that he cleared $40,000".^[6]

Moffet was married to Mary Agnes "Minnie" Donaldson. He died in Butte, Montana, in 1907.^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)