The recent opening of Ramsay’s Bar and Lounge on the Square in Dunfanaghy represents the next
chapter in the life of one of the most iconic buildings in Dunfanaghy.
A visitor to Dunfanaghy Town prior to the early 1830s would have seen a much different landscape
as to what we have now. Back then, Dunfanaghy was a small village where locals had a fearsome reputation but those times, they were a changing. The waters of Dunfanaghy Bay, as it was then known as, flowed right up to what is now our square, with the stone buildings from Muck’n’Muffins to an Chistin were stores and houses on the water’s edge. Homes lined the road from the main street down past the Oyster to Arnolds, which we can still see the remnants of with the old arches across the village. These were built behind the present-day buildings in the town and have largely disappeared over
the intervening years, although the Griffiths Valuation of 1857 shows numbers of people living in this
area of old Dunfanaghy.
Around about 1830 the Dunfanaghy Pier as re-developed and this led to major developments in
and around the area now known as The Square by landlord Alexander Stewart of Ards, oversaw by his Estate Manager Edmund Murphy. This area of land was reclaimed and this became the Market Square with Ramsay’s right alongside it. Ramsay’s was constructed and opened as general store, which was operated by William Ramsay who is mentioned in the 1857 Griffith’s Valuation of the area. Ramsay’s Stores was an imposing building and was similar to other stores built in coastal villages such as Ramelton and Bunbeg during this period. The old photos of the building show the way that the goods were moved about the various floors by way of winches and pullies.
A shed was also built on the Pier for holding the coal which would come into the Pier on the ‘Coal Boats’ which would come into Dunfanaghy initially via a channel in the middle of Killyhoey Beach and then past Catherine’s Isle to the Pier. This was the route used during the Famine years and testament to this is the ribs of a large cargo vessel still lying and visible at low tide in the surf in the centre of Killyhoey Beach. This ship was wrecked bringing a cargo of grain at night into Ramsay’s during the Famine and the Derry papers were full of sympathy the following week for poor Mr. Ramsay who went out to the wreck the next day discovered that the cargo had disappeared overnight taken no doubt by the hungry
locals in need of food.
Ramsay’s Stores would go on to play a pivotal role in the community for many years under the
stewardship of many local families that still reside in the town today. The late Philip Montgomery from Marble Hill took over the running of the shop in the 1970’s and he modernised the business turning it into a supermarket. In the days before, Ramsays was also known locally as ‘Philips’ along with other shops in the town – Crossans (Now where Flynn’s Chemist and the Great Wall are now), Hugh McKinley’s (Simply Devines) and Brian McGinley’s were part of the beating heart of the community. These were the places where the residents of the surrounding countryside would come to do their shopping and meet their friends. In those days there were not too many telephones in private houses and the telephone in Ramsay’s Stores was one of the locations used by locals to enquire about loved ones who might find
themselves in Hospital or for phoning the local vets which were to be found in Letterkenny and
Milford as well as other day to day necessities.
After Philip’s death, the shop was run for many years by his wife before being sold. the building has been passed to the Ramsays to the Montgomerys to the Gallaghers then the Sweeneys, and now it has passed on to a new owner who has turned a new chapter in the life of this historic building by opening Ramsay’s Bar.
Gallagher from Cranford and then the Sweeney family before being bought by the new owner.
The legacy of this historic still survives today through the memories of the community, and through artefacts such as the shop bike which is now on display in the Dunfanaghy Workhouse. Let us know some of your memories from Ramsays in the comments below