These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
Rann na Feirste· Irish · main form · validated name
Rinnafarset· English · main form
Rannafast· English · main form · local name
Place & story
The first college summer
Father Lorcán Ó Muirí came to Rann na Feirste in November 1925 while seeking a home for an Irish summer college. The community centre’s history records that Johnny Shemisín provided land and Donnchadh Padaí Séainín built the college. Students arrived in 1926, initially using the national school before the college building was ready. Many of that first summer’s roughly fifty students were teachers, giving the institution an early role in spreading Irish beyond the village.[2]
People & connections
The Ó Grianna brothers
The writers Séamus Ó Grianna and his brother Seosamh Mac Grianna were born in Rann na Feirste and attended its national school. Séamus, born in 1889, published under the name Máire; his books include Caisleáin Óir and Nuair a bhí mé óg, as well as the 1942 volume Rann na Feirste. Seosamh returned to teach at the village school after qualifying in 1921. His published work includes Mo bhealach féin and An droma mór.[3][4]
Druma Mór Rann na Feirste
The Ranafast marching band began in 1976 to mark Coláiste Bhríde’s fiftieth anniversary, making its first outing on 6 June. It entered competition in 1980 and won its first All-Ireland title in 1987. After a period of inactivity beginning in 2000, the band returned in 2008. Its history also records annual marches and appearances in neighbouring communities, showing how a college anniversary produced a musical organisation with a life extending far beyond the original celebration.[5]
Rann Na Feirste — Census 2016 settlement footprint
Population within 2016 settlement boundaries
302people · 2022
Both counts use the 2016 settlement boundary, allowing like-for-like comparison. CSO supplies the 2022 count on this older boundary for comparison only. The official 2022 Built Up Area has different boundaries.
View population figures
Rann Na Feirste — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
Rann na Feirste, Donegal — Census town, CSO 2006 report
2002–2006: census town
319people · 2006
These are the historical areas published in the 2006 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Rann na Feirste, Donegal — Census town, CSO 2006 report — census population
Rann na Feirste, Donegal — Census town, CSO 1996 report
1991–1996: census town
299people · 1996
These are the historical areas published in the 1996 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Rann na Feirste, Donegal — Census town, CSO 1996 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Rann na Feirste, Donegal
Published census settlement populations
309people · 2016
Settlement boundaries changed during this period. Differences may reflect boundary changes as well as population change. Where a 2011 legal-town-and-environs count is shown, it has not been recalculated onto the 2016 settlement boundary.
Rinnafarset village landscape, County Donegal illustration: based on a Rinnafarset area - Homes (5 May 2008) by Joseph Mischyshyn. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
placenames