Stranorlar
Stranorlar (Irish: Srath an Urláir)[1] is a town, townland and civil parish in the Finn Valley of County Donegal, in Ireland. Stranorlar and Ballybofey (located on the other side of the River Finn) form the Twin Towns.
The town is located at the junction of the N15 and N13 national primary roads. For nearly 100 years, Stranorlar was the headquarters of the County Donegal Railway system (originally the Finn Valley Railway), with services to Derry and Letterkenny via Strabane (near Lifford), to Ballyshannon and Killybegs via Donegal, and to Glenties. At its peak, the railway had 130 employees. The last train ran from Stranorlar in 1960.[citation needed]
Stranorlar railway station was built by the Finn Valley Railway and opened on 7 September 1863 and finally closed on 6 February 1960. The old railway station was demolished to make way for a new bus garage owned and run by Bus Éireann. To celebrate the millennium, the old clock from the railway station was restored and installed in a new clock tower which sits at the old pedestrian entrance to the railway station yard. The town remains the main depot for Bus Éireann within County Donegal.[citation needed]
The nearest railway station is operated by Northern Ireland Railways and runs from Londonderry railway station via Coleraine to Belfast Central Station and Belfast Great Victoria Street railway station. The strategically important Belfast-Derry railway line is to be upgraded to facilitate more frequent trains and improvements to the permanent way such as track and signalling to enable faster services.[citation needed]
The next nearest railway station is Sligo railway station where Iarnród Éireann, trains run to Dublin Connolly.[citation needed]
Stranorlar is home to St. Columba's College and Finn Valley College. The town is also home to three primary schools. St Mary's primary school, Robertson National School and the Sessiaghoneil school.
