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Fanad (official name: Fánaid)〔(Placenames (Ceantair Ghaeltachta) Order 2004 )〕 is a peninsula that lies between Lough Swilly and Mulroy Bay on the north coast of County Donegal in Ireland. The origins of the name Fanad are lost in time though there is some speculation that the name derives from an old Gaelic word Fana for "sloping ground".〔The Anglicized words of Irish Placenames by Tom Burnell (2006)〕 It is also referred to as Fannet or Fannett in older records. There are an estimated 700 people living in Fanad and 30% Irish speakers. Fanad encompasses the parishes of Clondavaddog, Killygarvan and parts of Tullyfern and Aughinish. It measures approximately 25 km north-south measured from Fanad Head to the town of Ramelton and approximately 12 km east-west measured between the townlands of Doaghbeg and Glinsk. The southern boundary of Fanad has been the subject of some dispute over the centuries. In the 16th century, during the time of the MacSuibhnes as rulers of Fanad, it was stated that the territory of Fanaid stretched as far south as the River Lennon between Kilmacrennan and Ramelton. In 1835, the surveyor John O'Donovan referred to Rathmullan as the capital of Fanad, and he also refers to Clondavaddog as ''“the most northern parish of Fanaid"'', suggesting that Fanad included parishes other than Clondavaddog.〔O'Donovans's Ordnance Survey Letters Donegal 1835 by Michael Herity (2000)〕 O'Donovan also noted that ''“The inhabitants of Inishowen state that Fanaid extends from Rathmeltan to Mulroy Lough, but the natives of the Parishes of Killygarvan, Tully and Aughnish, who considered themselves civilised, deny that they themselves are of the men of Fanaid"''. Family names commonly recorded in Fanad since the mid-19th century include Callaghan, Cannon/Canning, Carr/Kerr, Coll, Coyle, Deeney, Doherty, Friel, Fealty, Gallagher, Martin, McAteer/McIntyre, McConigley/McGunnigal, McGinley/McKinley, Sheil/Sheilds and Sweeney/McSwyne.〔Reflecting the frequency of the occurrence of the names noted in Griffith's Primary Valuation of the 1850s.〕 ==Geology and geography== Geological maps of County Donegal show rock alignments running south-west to north east across the Fanad peninsula. The underlying rock in the peninsula is mostly of Dalradian meta-sedimentary rocks, which have been exposed by weathering and erosion over the millennia There are areas of Granodiorite igneous rocks across the northern end of the peninsula from Ballywhoriskey to Fanad Head, but the greater part of Fanad consist of Middle-Dalradian Quartzite and some Pellite rocks with local occurrences of Schists and Tillites – the latter mostly concentrated around the northern inlet of Mulroy Bay.〔As per maps and text of Chapter One – Geology and Geomorphology by Moore, Cooper, Dunlop and Jackson, from Lough Swilly – A Living Landscape, Ed. Andrew Cooper (2011)〕 The cliffs around Fanad Head are of exposed Grandiorite, whereas the higher ground running south from Fanad Head to Portsalon is a band of Quartzite. Knockalla Mountain is also formed of Quartzite. The landscape of Fanad has been shaped by geological processes which include the effects of periodic covering with ice sheets and glaciers as recently as 14,000 years ago. The retreat of the ice sheet had a major impact on Fanad and surrounding areas. It is speculated that much of Lough Swilly was may have been dry land which was flooded due to a rise in sea level within the last 10,000 years. Mulroy Bay may have been similarly formed at this time. The peat outcrops on the foreshore at White Strand north of Rathmullan contain the remainder of trees which were submerged by the advance of the sea in this area.〔As per maps and text of Chapter One – Geology and Geomorphology by Moore, Cooper, Dunlop and Jackson, from Lough Swilly – A Living Landscape, Ed. Andrew Cooper (2011)〕 Many of the beaches on the Fanad shoreline were formed at this time by glacial deposits which were subsequently reworked by the actions of waves and currents. In common with much of the rest of Ireland, the post-glacial landscape gradually changed with rises in temperature from open tundra to one dominated by forests of pine, oak, alder, hazel and birch, with breaks in the canopy on the edges of the intervening expanses of lake and bog. This was probably the landscape which greeted the earliest settlers who ventured along the coastline in the late Mesolithic Period, possibly about 5,000 BC. There is archaeological evidence of human occupation of coastal areas of Inishowen at Dunaff〔Ref. Chapter 1 – Prehistoric and Early Historic Settlement in Donegal by Brian Lacy from Donegal History and Society – Ed. Nolan, Ronayne & Dunlevy (1995)〕 and west of Horn Head during this period and it is reasonable to assume that Fanad also saw some transient occupation at this time. The subsequent evolution of the landscape in Fanad probably owes more to human intervention than to natural forces, reflecting the shift from visits by Mesolithic hunters, fishers and gatherers to the introduction of primitive farming during the Neolithic period from 4,000 BC onwards. The tree-covered landscape of the Mesolithic period would have given way gradually to a more open countryside in arable areas, marking the beginning of the contemporary landscape of Fanad, with its mixture of arable land at lower levels, with scrub and gorse covered uplands, and bogs interspersed with occasional lakes and streams. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fanad」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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