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Information about the Town of
Bundoran
Bundoran is the last southerly town in Co.
Donegal, and is the gateway to the north of Ireland from the west. It is situated on the busy N15 road from Donegal to
Sligo, and because of this,
our Fire Area is divided between the counties of Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo. We
are 12.8km from the border of Northern Ireland.
Donegal is a very
large county in the North West of Ireland, and its fire cover is divided between 15
Retained Fire Stations, with its HQ in Letterkenny.
Bundoran Town
The urban area of
Bundoran has approx a population of 2000, but with a lot of new families moving
into the outer suburbs of the town, this in turn has made outside the urban area
largely populated with hundreds of new houses. It is also unique in the fact
that at certain periods of the year the population can grow massively between
30-40,000 people, mostly made up of holidaymakers and visitors. The major employer of the
town is the Tourism Industry, in which we take great pride.
As
years progress, it has changed from a Summer seasonal town to an all year round
town, with thousands of visitors flocking here every weekend, with such
attractions as musical weekends and large conferences.
There are over 16,000 bed places
in the town, ranging from 6 Hotels, Apartments, Holiday Homes and Guest Houses
and B & B's, and at certain times of the year, you would get it hard to get
a place to stay!
The town itself has lots of amenities to offer with a 6 Screen
Cineplex, Waterworld, Sea-weed baths, Amusements, a Fun Fair, 18 hole golf
course and nightly entertainment with live
bands in all the Hotels, Niteclubs and not forgetting our fantastic European
Blue Flag beaches, all of which, draws massive crowds to the town. For the active tourist
Bundoran offers excellent options for angling, walking, cycling, golf, horse riding and
watersports.
New By-pass
On Monday 23rd
January 2006, a new 80 million euro By-pass was opened around Bundoran and the Ballyshannon part of the By-Pass
opened on Thursday 27th April 2006. This will make Bundoran in the
long term, a very large and prosperous town, with already expanding suburbs. The
heavy traffic will be taken away from the town centre and this will greatly add
to the attraction of the town. It is the largest major infrastructural
development in the south of the county, since the inception of the Great
Northern Railway, which ran to Bundoran between 1866 and 1957.
Bundoran Fire Station is situated
in a centralised area at the east end of the town, called Drumacrin Road, with two access roads to
which the appliance can turn out, one to the main street and the other towards
the Ballyshannon side of the town. Our firecalls are ever increasing as the town
expands dramatically as each year alone, hundreds of new houses are being
built.
Did you know? One of the pioneers of the Credit Union
Movement in Ireland, the late Fr Paddy Gallagher came from Bundoran!
The History of the Town of Bundoran
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Bundoran or as it is known in Irish
"Bun Dobhràin" which means "the foot of the little water" was
actually up until over a century ago two separate villages. Bundoran was the
village west of the bridge over the River Bradòg, this area is now known as
the West End. East of the bridge almost a mile away, was the village of Single
Street. In between these two separate communities lay the historic townland of
Drumacrin. The area of Drumacrin is now part of what is today's town centre.
It was only after the opening of the railway station in 1866 which was called
Bundoran, that the two distinct communities developed and merged to what we
know nowadays to be Bundoran. |
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Single
Street was where the majority of the local native population lived. Across
the bridge in what is now the West End, was the area of residence favoured by
the more affluent classes.
The first official mention of Bundoran was in 1777 when Viscount Enniskillen
built Bundoran Lodge, his summer residence. This building still exists to
this day and is now known as Homefield House, situated at Bayview Avenue in
the town. The Viscount seems to have started a trend amongst his
contemporaries as more and more of them discovered Bundoran and visited it to
enjoy the seaside location and the associated health benefits. Indeed such
was its popularity that Bundoran became known as the Brighton of Ireland.
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Another piece of history is
that Canon Francis Keelaghan, the first Parish Priest of Bundoran in the mid 1800's, challenged
the "right of way" to the beach as being public not private property, and
everyone that visits Bundoran to this day can greatly thank this man for
fighting to keep access to this fantastic beach public. To this day, it is still known
to locals as the "right of way"!
With the advances in travel, in particular the railway, Bundoran's popularity
spread across the class barriers. With the opening of the railway link to
Belfast and onto Dublin more and more people from the east coast of Ireland
discovered the appeal of Bundoran and returned year after year. It was during
this period that Bundoran emerged as one of Ireland's most popular seaside
resorts. Hotels and lodging houses started to spring up around the town. The
best-known hotel and indeed one of Bundorans best landmarks the Great Northern
Hotel was constructed by the Great Northern Railway Company during this
period. |
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Bundoran as
a destination remained popular throughout the 20th century and its appeal has
been further enhanced by developments in recent years of the Waterworld
Complex and building of new hotels, self-catering apartments and houses.
Following this period of renaissance the town now boasts the largest
accommodation base in the north west of Ireland and a host of activities,
entertainment and attractions for all the family all year round.
 Today
the beach proudly shows its Blue Flag which is awarded each summer season to beaches in
certain countries who have passed stringent tests for Water quality,
Environmental education and information, Environmental management & Safety and
services. The Blue Flag is an exclusive eco-label awarded to around 3100
beaches and marinas in 34 countries across Europe, South Africa, New Zealand,
Canada and the Caribbean in 2005.
www.blueflag.org
Town Twinning
The
idea of "Twin Towns" was born at the end of the
Second World War. People started to realise how important it is to work as a team to
rebuild Europe. Bundoran is proud to be associated with Douzelage
European Town Twinning and is twinned with Granville in France &
Sherbourne in the United Kingdom.
Town Council
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Bundoran has its own
Town Council and has
9 Councillors elected every 5 years, in line with all local Authorities in
Ireland. (Note:- The Fire Service is controlled by Donegal County Council
- Fire Authority) |
The Peak Bundoran - World famous Surfing
Town
Bundoran is renowned worldwide for its
spectacular waves known as "The Peak". Surfers come here from all over the
world to surf all year round. It also has some of the loveliest beaches in
Ireland.
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For more detailed information on Bundoran, visit
www.discoverbundoran.com Map of Bundoran
You can view a larger map of Bundoran here courtesy of
John Callaghan who kindly gave me permission to use his map on our website.
Visit his fantastic website here at
http://www.johnthemap.co.uk/pages/donegal/bundoran.html
Visit our links page to find out about places to stay
and things to do in Bundoran |
Interesting Satellite picture of Bundoran
and surrounding areas taken from 10.27 miles above earth.
Picture courtesy Google
Earth |
