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
Bun an Phobail· Irish · main form · validated name
Moville· English · main form
Place & story
The last boat out to the steamer
Moville developed as a trading centre on Lough Foyle before acquiring a wider role in Atlantic migration. Grain stores and a grain market were established by the early 1830s. Large passenger steamers later anchored in the Foyle, and small tenders carried their passengers out from Moville pier. The Anchor Line began collecting passengers here in 1860; the Allan Line also called for travellers bound for America. The harbour thus connected a small Inishowen town with journeys across the ocean.[2]
People & connections
The Montgomery family and Bath Green
Samuel Montgomery, a Derry wine merchant, leased land at Ballynelly in 1768 and built New Park. Later generations invested in roads, schools and churches. Bishop Henry Montgomery gave Bath Green to the county council in trust for the people of Moville. His son Bernard, later Field Marshal Montgomery, was born in London but spent childhood holidays at New Park, first visiting in 1897. The family's history therefore survives in both the town's public shorefront and its connection with the soldier.[2]
A terrace facing the Foyle
Montgomery Terrace expresses Moville's nineteenth-century development as a seaside resort. Built around 1884 by the Montgomery family, its houses look south over Lough Foyle. At number five, a two-storey canted bay and gabled attic window create a lively frontage, enriched by decorative bargeboards and stucco. Timber sash windows and a panelled doorway preserve much of its original character. The architectural survey places the terrace within the period when summer steamers brought visitors from Derry and Portrush, adding holiday traffic to the waterfront's commercial life.[3]
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
Moville — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
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
Moville, Donegal — Census town, CSO 2006 report — census population
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
Moville, Donegal — Census town, CSO 1996 report — census population
Figures cover the historical town area printed in the 1986 report. Boundaries may have changed between censuses. Legal town, environs and suburb totals remain separate and differ from modern settlement boundaries.
View population figures
Moville, Donegal — Census town, CSO 1986 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Moville, Donegal
Published census settlement populations
1,480people · 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.
placenames