KILLYBEGS — Corporation,killybegs

Described in the Urban Survey of Donegal as 'Killybegs lies at the head of the fine natural harbour to which it gives its name. The placename is normally spelled as Cealebeg or Cellebeg in documents of the sixteenth and seventeenth century and is normally translated as "little churches" (Bradley & Dunne 1989, 40). During the middle ages Killybegs appears to have belonged to the bishops of Raphoe and they it was who built a castle overlooking the harbour in the fourteenth century. The date of the initial settlement at Killybegs is not known but there are indications that by the end of the sixteenth century there was a small fishing village there. Like Ballyshannon, Killybegs rose to prominence in the later middle ages because of its potential importance as a sea port. The first cargo of Spanish arms to reach Ireland was landed here in 1596 and four years later, in 1600, another Spanish ship landed with 2000 calivers and 2000 pikes together with Mathias de Oviedo, the titular archbishop of Dublin, who promised the arrival of a Spanish army of liberation to O'Donnell and O'Neill. This army, when it arrived, landed not at Killybegs but at Kinsale. Nonetheless these references indicate the strategic significance of Killybegs and explain why the english government selected it as one of the seven potential boroughs which they proposed to erect in Donegal in 1609. Initially the proposed boroughs were to have forty burgesses but by 1611 when Sir Henry Foliot was required to set out the land at Killybegs for the coming year "for the Townes best advantage", the proposed town was to have a portreeve, a bailiff and thirty burgesses (Hunter 1971, 44). The foundation was protracted until 1615, however, probably because of the difficulty of getting settlers and when the town was incorporated in that year the plantation commissioners settled for much less than they had originally estimated. In the end-up the planter given the task of establishing the town was Roger Jones, constable of Sligo. The borough was incorporated on 14 dec. 1615 and Jones was given 200 acres on condition that he would set out a site for the town, build twenty houses with lands for burgesses, who were to be only twelve in number, and lay aside convenient spots for the market place, a church and churchyard, a public school and 30 acres of common (Ir Rec Comm 1830, 300). Jones' tenure does not seem to have lasted long, however, and shortly after 1618 the town was acquired by John Murray, one of James I's favourites and created earl of Annandale in 1624 (Hunter 1971, 53). By 1622 the "new town" of Killybegs had only some 17 "British and Irish inhabitants". The adult population in the census of c. 1659 consisted of 10 English and Scots, and 21 Irish, making a total of 31. These two figures indicate that the population of the town remained very small and that there was little success in atrracting settlers. Hunter (1981, 69) has suggested that this failure may have come about as a result of the dispute between the Bishop of Raphoe and Roger Jones about the possession of the town, followed by its acquisition by the absentee earl of Annandale whose primary interest lay in rents rather than develping the plantation. Despite its small size the town succeeded in establishing a small seaborne trade and in 1626 some 12% of Irish herring exports went through Killybegs (Hunter 1981, 69). The physical layout of the town was described in the Urban Survey as 'The street pattern is essentially linear, consisting of Main St with Bridge St and O'Hare Lane aligned at right angles to its axis. Main Street was laid out facing the sea and was clearly meant to double as a harbour frontage. The late medieval settlement of Cealebeg was located south of the town around the remains of Cat Castle (DG097-015004-) and St Catherine's Church (DG097-015002-). The original market place was probably at the west end of Main St where it is joined by Bridge St. The O.S. maps show a market place on the harbour front but this is probably a development of later times. The Fair Green lies just to the north of the town' (Bradley & Dunne 1989, 40-43). Excavation licence number 00E0208 Testing was carried out on 29 April 2000 on the site of the proposed development of a detached dwelling-house, septic tank and associated percolation area at The Hill, off Main Street, Killybegs, Co. Donegal. Using a wide, toothless trenching bucket, five test-trenches were excavated. The bedrock and natural, orange/brown, sandy clay subsoil were sealed by sod and topsoil. Nothing of archaeological significance was noted. (Excavations Bulletin 2000) Declan Moore, 9 Clareden Drive, Donegal. Excavation licence number 00D0046 Prior to the proposed development works in the harbour at Killybegs, Co. Donegal, an intertidal survey was carried out. A metal-detection survey of the same area was carried out in tandem with the intertidal assessment. The area around Rough Point, a small island close to the harbour, revealed evidence of a possible landing place. Nothing else of significance was identified, nor was anything identified from the metal-detection survey. (Excavations Bulletin 2000) Audrey Gahan, ADS Ltd, Unit 48, Westlink Enterprise Centre, 30-50 Distillery Street, Belfast BT12 5BJ. Excavation licence number 01E1088 Pre-development testing of a site at the Diamond, Killybegs, was undertaken on 7 December 2001. The work involved the demolition of an existing building and the construction of a three-storey development within the 'zone of archaeological potential' for Killybegs town. Two 8m-long trial-trenches, orientated north-west/south-east and running parallel to each other, were excavated through the development area. Testing exposed a bed of natural bedrock below the old concrete foundation, with no archaeological features or finds in evidence. (Excavations Bulletin 2001) Billy Quinn, ASU Ltd, Purcell House, Oranmore, Co. Galway. Excavation Licence No. 03E0362 NGR 1248/7986 Archaeological monitoring carried out by Roseanne Meenan on the Killybegs sewerage scheme identified no archaeological features.