Mountcharles

Name and history

The area was originally known as Tamhnach an tSalainn (meaning "The salt mountain field"). This refers to a salt mine in the area which local people worked in, and at a growing rate, as the salt extraction rate was increased by the incoming family of Charles Conyngham. The name was later anglicized as Tawnaghtallan and Tawnytallan.

The English name for the village owes its origin to the Scottish plantation runner, Charles Conyngham, who arrived in Donegal during the Plantation of Ulster and asserted a landlord control over the area, renaming the region Mount Charles after himself. He is the ancestor of the current "Lord" Henry Conyngham (frequently, if inaccurately, known as 'Lord Henry Mountcharles') of Slane Castle, County Meath. Charles Conyngham financed the building of the village in the 17th century. The Conyngham estate and its large estate house (Hall Demesne), close to the village, are now unoccupied. The courtesy title of the heir apparent of The Marquess Conyngham is Earl of Mount Charles, being named after the village.

Mountcharles gave its name to the Electoral Division of Mountcharles (Mountcharles DED) from 1850 to around 1956 but this Electoral Division was renamed to Tantallon in the late 1950s and statistically enumerated as such from the 1961 Census.

Transport

Mountcharles railway station opened on 18 August 1893 and shut on 1 January 1960.

Notable people

Shops and pubs

Mountcharles has one general shop on the Main Street. There is also an excellent fishmongers, a local butchers, a post office, pharmacy and local tea rooms. There is a pilates and yoga centre there as well as a massage therapist. There is also a local beauticians, several hairdressers and a barber shop.There are currently two bars on the main street:

Sport

Montcharles has a Gaelic games pitch that belongs to the local club St Naul's (or Naomh Naile in the Irish language); nearby is Eany Celtic F.C.