Laghy Village, in Irish called Lathach meaning the “muddy place”. The village is situated with its back to Laghy Hill and during wet weather the mud ran down the hill and collected into a catch pit called The Holm. The catch pit formed a small lake filled with sand, gravel and mud. Every year Laghy Village hosts the Laghy Blast Festival, a fun filled entertaining event for all the family.  Laghy Village is located in County Donegal on the North West coast of Ireland. Friendly people and warm hospitality in Donegal will ensure your visit to Ireland is memorable. Choose from a wide selection of Tourist Board approved Bed and Breakfasts in Donegal.

The Laghy River once flowed to Carrick Alt and emptied into the sea at Aughnadrin. During the 17th century a road was constructed from Donegal to Laghy and the river was diverted into the Ballikallone River, The Holm dried up and in 1959 when Laghy school was built the formation of the Holm came to light.

The village is on the south side of the river about four miles from Donegal Town and is separated from Rathneeny by the bridge. It began with a few small thatched houses in the 17th century and grew during the 18th century and by the end of the 19th century consisted of a single street of slated two storied houses built mostly by the McClay’s and McMurrys. In 1954 twelve cottages were built in a field in Laghy Holm by the County Council and since then new houses have been built on Tullywee lane and on the site of the old railway station as well as on theVillage Street and elsewhere in the vicinity of the village and Rathneeny.

Where every home in the village once held large families, most of the houses today are either unoccupied or inhabited by one or two people. The principal buildings of the early and mid 20th century were the Church ofIreland 1837, theOrange hall 1906, and the Post Office, two public houses, several grocery shops and a forge. There also was the Railway Station, the Dispensary and the Doctor’s house. A drapery shop was owned by Bob and Mary McClay, which sold everything from clothes and toys to needles and thread.

The postmaster in Laghy in 1900 was Adam McClay and the postman was Jimmy Graham. The post office was located in the house now occupied by the Kee Family, descendants of Adam McClay. When the post office moved to the present location it was taken over by Mrs Lisa McGrane from Ballintra and later by Mrs Brodbin who came from Mountcharles. It was run for many years by her daughter Marie and on her retirement was taken over by her nephew Rory Brodbin, who is the present postmaster. The post car, a horse drawn van came daily from Donegal dropping off the mailbags in the various post offices from Donegal to Ballyshannon. Pat Connolly, Paddy Edwards and Tommy Lawn were the postmen; they were obliged to walk until they were provided with bicycles after the First World War. Jim Gallagher succeeded Tommy Lawn on the Laghy, Rathneeny, Golard and Trummon East route. In those days the postman was a welcome caller bringing news and gossip to the people of the parish, posting their letters and carrying messages from one house to another.  Joe Gorman is the present postman and can deliver the post from the comfort and convenience of a mail van.

Over the years and especially during the famine times Ireland witnessed emigration on a mass scale. History seems to repeat itself and we are now seeing emigration of many of Ireland’s younger generation due to the recession. Many people worldwide have Irish ancestry. For more information on Genealogy in Ireland read Irish Roots Magazine.

The original dispensary was located in what is now the house previously owned by the late William and Iris Bustard and is now owned by Gabrielle Travers. The present dispensary run by the North Western Health Board is in the same location. A Mrs Elizabeth Barnett owned the dispensary in the mid 1800s and left it to her niece Margaret Graham in 1858. The first doctor was Mrs Kathleen McColgan. Dr Collins, who stayed only a short time, succeeded her. His son Newton H Collins was killed in 1916 during the First World War, a plaque in the church was erected in his memory. Dr Kelly, who resided at the Two-Mile stone, succeeded Dr Collins. Dr James O’Neill-Moran came in 1933 and was the dispensary doctor until he retired in 1973. He resided in a house he purchased from McClay’s and lived there until his death. He was a talented artist and gardener as well as a popular doctor. Nurse Mulhern nee Phillips was the last district nurse in Laghy.

There were a number of grocery shops in the village in the 19th and 20th centuries.  These shops sold hardware and farm implements as well as food and other necessities. Owners of shops over the years were Jacob and Tom Gorman, Adam McLay, The Kee family, Hazlett Collins, Robert Harron. Gertie and Willie Scott and Iris Bustard. Adam McLay owned the post office and grocery shop in the late 19th and early 20th century.

The premises are now owned by the Kee family. Robert Harron ran a very successful grocery shop in the village up until he retired. It was then taken over by his daughter Gertie and her husband Willie Scott. They sold the premises and retired to a new home in Trummon. The late Mrs Iris Bustard had the third grocery shop in the village. They bought the premises from John Farrell and opened it as a general grocery. Following Mrs Bustard’s retirement, Tom Morrow and later Stephen Dougherty took over. It closed down as a grocery shop some years ago and was converted to a hairdressing salon and an office for the North Western Health Board. The sole occupants to date are the health board.

The Kee family now resides in what was once the post office and grocery shop. The shop is now a supermarket located on the opposite side of the road.  The Kees also own a petrol station and shop on the new bypass road, a short distance from the supermarket.

The O’Carolan family owns one of the two public houses in the village -The Dew Drop Inn.  It has changed hands many times over the years. Thomas Johnston, Thomas McCollum, Hughie Gallagher, Rosaleen Griffin and others owned it. It has been renovated and modernised by the O’Carolan family and is now a popular venue for dances and parties.

Rose Gorman bought the “Seven Arches” pub in the 19th century from a family by the name of Molloy. It was run as a grocery shop and pub by her son Jacob Gorman and became known as “Jacobs” It served as the Coach House Inn where horses were changed and stabled.

The stables were across the road in what is now the Churchyard. Rings were inserted in the walls of the inn for tying the horses. In a sidewall next the street an iron bar had been inserted about six feet up, which was used for weighing pigs. Jacob’s nephew Tom Gorman inherited the business from his uncle and it became known as “Toms”.

The shop closed some years before Tom retired and he carried on with the pub until his retirement in 1990 after 50 years in the business. “Toms corner” was a popular meeting place for the young male population of the village and surrounding areas.

They congregated outside the pub every night, talking, telling jokes and ogling the girls as they went by. The pub was sold some years ago by the Gorman family and has had several owners since then. Gerry McGirr from Omagh now owns it.

Electricity came to the village in the late 1940s and the ESB brought the electric light to every house and provided street lighting, Barney Curristin and Packie Gorman were kept busy getting all the houses wired up. One plug in the kitchen and a light in each room were the norm, but it was real luxury in those days.

There were several wells in the village and before the water supply was provided they were used for drinking and cooking. The river water was used for washing and cleaning. People carried the water in buckets from the river. The wells were known as “Joe Stewarts well” “Reynolds well” etc. Hammond’s and Eddie Gallagher’s wells in Rathneeny were also in use.

In the sixties a deep well was dug in the Holm and it now supplies the village as well as surrounding areas with water. Before that the water was supplied from a pump in the main street. The sewerage system was completed in 2010 after many years of representation.

Tradesmen consisted of coopers, carpenters and wheelwrights. Addy, Andrew, and Bob McClay were carpenters, coachbuilders and wheelwrights, who also operated a post car service. Stonemasons were Sam McMurry and Joe McClay in Laghy and Robert Scott, Copany.

The Forge in Laghy village was owned and run by the Elliott Family who worked there as blacksmiths for generations. Tommy Elliott was the last of the Elliott family to live in the house, Tommy, however, did not trade as a blacksmith. The Patterson Family was blacksmiths in Trummon and James Graham of Lackan served his time there as a blacksmith and wheelwright.

He later set up a forge in what is now David McEllhinneys house. He made ploughs for all the surrounding countryside, was a good carriage smith, wheelwright and an expert chain maker. The anvil he used was there until recently. His son William, who married Elizabeth Patterson of Trummon, worked with him in later life. The Robinson Family of Moyne and Mullins were also blacksmiths in the Parish for several generations.

The village was bypassed some years ago with a new road from Donegal to Ballyshannon. Ballyshannon is the birthplace of the famous musician Rory Gallagher. Every year the Rory Gallagher Festival is held in Ballyshannon and draws musical talent from all over the world. The volume of traffic was traffic was greatly reduced leaving the village a much safer place for the inhabitants. Laghy fair was held on the 15th day of each month. The fair congregated at the bridge junction where the farmers from the surrounding areas brought their livestock to be sold. Dealers and other farmers bought the cattle and the bargain was sealed with a handshake.

A small sum of money returned to the dealer was known as “lucks penny”. In later years the fair was held in the river field. The last fair committee ever called consisted of Richard Graham [Rossmore] Hugh Travers [Rathneeny] Joe Gallagher, C McGinty, Packie Gorman and Bernard Egan. The meetings were held in “Toms” public house and were disbanded in 1960 with the coming of the marts.

Some of the above facts were taken from Bernard Egan’s book “Drumholm”.

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