William J Doherty, Engineer and Antiquarian

Who was William J Doherty who was born in Co Donegal in 1834 - who lived in Castletown, Fahan, at different times of his life.

William began his career as an assistant engineer during the construction of the Lough Swilly Railway which ran from Derry to Buncrana. This involved extensive land reclamation in the vicinity of Inch Island. He moved to Liverpool and Birkenhead to continue his work. He returned to Ireland and set up his own construction firm; first in Belfast and then Dublin. There followed a very productive period in in which his firm completed many major civil engineering projects. The most famous of these was the construction of O’Connell Bridge in Dublin in 1880. He was elected High Sheriff of Dublin and was regarded as one of the most talented engineers in the British Isles.
He was also a noted antiquarian and produced a number of books and pamphlets on the history of Inishowen and Donegal, the most famous of these being Inis-Owen and Tirconnell. Being some account of antiquities and writers of the county of Donegal.

The present owners of the farm have spent some time in renovating a barn on the premises with the help of a grant from the Heritage Council - Traditional Farm Building grant. The design and quality of the building was such that the owners believe that it was designed/built by William Doherty.

On Saturday 16th August we invite you to a talk in the renovated barn, by well-known artist, John McCarron on the life of William Doherty.