Gortahork 4.28

Gort an Choirce or Gort a' Choirce or is a village and townland in the northwest of County Donegal, Ireland. It is a lively Gaeltacht community, where the Irish language is the main language of the area. Along with Falcarragh, it forms part of the district known as Cloughaneely.Irish languageThere are 1,599 people living in Gort an Choirce, in the Gortahork ED and 81% are native Irish speakers, making it one of the top two EDs in terms of proportion of Irish speakers. It is the high percentage of Irish Speaker in any Locality in the republic of Ireland according to CSO statistics.NameThe official name of the townland is Gort an Choirce, meaning 'the Field of Oats', early habitation is evident by the sourterrain and the various ring forts evident in the townland. It's known as the Parish of Críost Rí in the Catholic division, or Tullaghobegley East in the Protestant division.HistoryGort an Choirce meaning the field of Corn the field is where the Church is currently located. The Village has a history of enterprise local shops forges hotels post office halls and other meeting places for the communities in the surrounding areas etc.It is claimed that a Charlie McGee, from Inishbofin, some four miles offshore from Gort a' Choirce, was the first person to have been killed in the 1916 Easter Rising. McGee, who was a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary, was shot on duty while in Castlebellingham, County Louth. He was brought home to be buried in Gortahork, where an RIC tombstone now lies over his grave.