Country Ireland Time zone WET (UTC+0) | County County Donegal Province Ulster | |
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Burt county donegal
Burt (Irish: An Bheart) is a parish in County Donegal, Ireland, situated on the main road between Letterkenny and Derry, Northern Ireland.
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Location
Located at the base of the Inishowen Peninsula, Burt is a parish and is part the Parish of Fahan. This is an area that holds a lot of history with the ancient Grianán of Aileach stone fort that dates back to 1700BC. On a clear day it is possible to see the hills of seven counties of Ireland from this view. The panorama of the Ulster coastline particularly Lough Swilly, Inch Island and Lough Foyle is most impressive. From Grianán hill you can see the extent of the reclaimed land at Inch Level which was enclosed by three embankments in 1856. The Burt Roman Catholic Chapel on N13 (European award winning design) was modelled after the Grianán of Aileach. The Presbyterian congregation nearby dates from 1673 but the present church was built in 1896.
Travellers along the main N13 road from Derry to Letterkenny also see the remains of the Burt Distillery with its stone chimney in use during the 18th and 19th centuries at Bohullion.
Burt Castle
Burt Castle (Irish: Caisleán Bhirt) stands on top of Castlehill and dates from 16th century; it has strong connections with the O'Doherty clan. Behind Castlehill on the edge of Lough Swilly are the remains of an abbey or church at Grange. The churchyard at Grange contains some of the earliest grave stones in this area dating from 17th Century. On the walls of the old building are gravestones and tablets showing the graves of Rev. Andrew Ferguson Sen the second Presbyterian Minister of Burt 1690 to 1725 and also his son Rev. Andrew Ferguson Jun who succeeded his father as Minister of Burt from 1725 to 1787.