Falcarragh

An Fál Carrach[2] (anglicised as Falcarragh), sometimes called Na Crois Bhealaí ('the Crossroads'), is a small Gaeltacht town and townland in the north-west of County Donegal, Ireland.

Na Crois Bhealaí is still used by local native Irish speakers when referring to the town.

An Fál Carrach, the official name, originally referred to a little hamlet south-east of the present town, at the foot of Falcarragh Hill - but gradually houses were built at the crossroads itself, mainly for the workers and tradespeople employed on the Olphert Estate, which was centred on Ballyconnell House.

The first recorded reference to Falcarragh appears in a report written in 1822 by William Wilson, from Raphoe in the Laggan of East Donegal.

He, apparently, received a hostile reception on arrival in Cloughaneely (parish) according to his account to the bishop: Slater's Directory of 1870 provides information about Falcarragh and its surrounding area: Crossroads or Falcarragh, is a village, in the parish of Tullaghbegley, and partly of Raymunterdoney, barony of Kilmacrennan, situated on the summit of a small hill near to the coast; opposite here is the Island of Torrey, nine miles distant.

The ' Bridge of Tears ' ( Irish : Droichead na nDeor ) near Falcarragh. Family and friends of emigrants would accompany them as far as the bridge before saying goodbye, while the emigrants would continue on to Derry Port .
A plaque commemorating 'the Bridge of Tears', which reads: "Fad leis seo a thagadh cairde agus lucht gaoil an té a bhí ag imeacht chun na coigrithe. B'anseo an scaradh. Seo Droichead na nDeor" (Family and friends of the person leaving for foreign lands would come this far. Here was the separation. This is the Bridge of Tears).
Erraroey Beach, Falcarragh