Newtown Cunningham

Newtown Cunningham (pronounced quickly as 'Newt-'n-cunningham'), sometimes spelled Newtowncunningham or abbreviated to Newton (pronounced quickly as 'Newtin'. ), is a village in The Laggan district in the east of County Donegal, Ireland. Located on the N13 road 18 km east of Letterkenny and 16 km west of Derry, it is ideally located as a commuter village for both large towns. The 2006 census reports the village's population as 999, an increase of 50.7% over the 2002 population of 663.

History

The area of Newtown Cunningham was historically known as Culmacatrain.

Like nearby Manorcunningham, the village takes its name from John Cunningham, originally from Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, in Scotland, who was among the settlers granted lands in County Donegal during the Plantation of Ulster. The village's architecture includes stately Anglo-Irish "big houses", now known as the Manse and the Castle, which reflect the village's colonial and Presbyterian history.

Economy and Community

Newtowncunningham's long Main Street once formed part of the busy N13 trunk road connecting Letterkenny with Derry. The village's shops and businesses could thrive on business from passing traffic, but when a bypass diverted the N13 around the village in 1985, Newtowncunningham lost its economic lifeline. Many of the village's businesses either closed or moved to locations along the bypass, gradually divesting the Main Street of economic activity and the...
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